Bloody Wings
by coolbluerocker
Summary: Being new kid wasn't ever fun but with a past to hide that really doesn't want to stay hidden how is he suppose to survive. Especially when a certain gang decides they want to get serious whether or not he helps them. Sasunaru! Better summary inside!
1. Luck

Hey everyone! I know I have some other stories going and I'm really, really working on them. I actually had a chapter for my story Best Ten Bucks but it was an April fools day one and I didn't get it up in time so it's a bit too late to put up now. Anyways, I really like this story and I hope I won't give up on it. I get so many ideas and then I kinda loose interest in the ones I'm writing. Anyways, I just love this chapter and I hope it's actually good! (Geeze, this chapter turned out pretty long!)

**Summary:**He wasn't one of them. He knew the truths of the world. He had lived this life before and somehow, he had escaped. He'd be damned if he once again got sucked into it. There was to much pain from the last time he chose that road, but, could he really let them go when they were inexperienced? They'd die before they got a chance to even shoot for the stars. And dammit, they weren't backing down now.

**Warning: **This is Sasunaru so it will be boyxboy, in later chapters at least! Don't like don't read!

**Pairings: **Well, definitely Sasunaru, most likely Neji/Gaara. Possible Lee/Sakura, Kiba/Hinata, Shikamaru/Temari, Ino/Choji. I'm not sure though.. Any suggestions?

**Disclaimers: **I do not own Naruto nor will I ever :(

Bloody Wings

XxX

Luck

Ok, so by now, you should know first days of school always suck! There's no getting away from those days! Yet none of your funny, tragic or embarrassing mishaps can even get close to how bad my first day was. I know by now I should have been use to the changes of school all the time, (as I rarely stay in one place for over a year) but I'm not! It's hard so don't you dare ridicule me! I'm sure you've felt the butterflies in your stomach some time or another and Kami I felt like those damn winged creatures were trying to fucking break me open they were fluttering around so badly in my stomach. Stupid stomach acids not dissolving their wings and murdering them slowly and painfully (stomachs are so useless, breaking up food but can't even eliminate unwelcome visitors).

Anyways, ignoring my rants, another reason I hate changing schools is because of my looks. I'm not tall. Not at all. Now, I'm not the type thats short and fat. No. I'm skinny as hell! Some people even think I'm anorexic but after they see me eat their view changes. And no, I don't go into the bathrooms and stuff my fingers down my throat until I'm bent over and throwing my ass off. I don't do that shit. Only stupid bitches do that. Not the girls (and possibly guys) that actually suffer from it but the girls who purposely get sick and starve themselves to lose weight. Then they end up actually getting the disease (is it even a disease?) and start bawling their freaking eyes out forgetting that it was their fault in the first place. Stupid bitched! If guys can't like you how you are then they don't fucking deserve you. So anyways, back to me! I just can't seem to gain any weight. It's creepy.

But thats not all of my genetic problems. Unlike the majority of Japan, who have dark hair and eyes, I have enormous (just because they're big they do not make my girl-like! They don't), striking blue eyes that apparently are as blue as the sky. They are so stunning people often just stare into them for ages. It really gets on your nerves after a while. Then there's my golden hair. It stand out so much it's like a white spot one black paper. People often look for my hair when they're trying to find me. It's unlike most other blondes because it's bright and yellow unlike the pale blonds that are found in Japan (however few there are). I'm suppose to be like the sky with my sunny hair and sky like eyes. Also, my hair is absolutely uncontrollable. I can brush it and brush it and it never stays in place. Although I think it adds to my hot look as I am not cute! I like it how it is and if it was dull and flat, I just wouldn't be as smexy as I am now! Not that I like smex! I'm not some sex-addict you perverts! And I'm not cute! I'm attractive and gorgeous!

So all of this adds up to me being the laughing stock of the school. I mean, how rare is it you find a blond, short and skinny kid in school. Hell, I'm so short I bet half the girls (saying half is an understatement but my pride won't admit to that) in my class are taller then me never mind the guys! Damn people, why can't they have stunted growth. Damn girls killing my manly pride (and yes, I am manly so don't you bastards forget it!) and being taller then me and most of all, damn my stupid genetics for not letting me grow! I'll kill you fucking genetics! Some day, when you are extinct, I'll still be alive and laughing in your fucking ghostly faces! (From a distance of course, you never know when a ghost might suddenly appear and try to take over your body before moving on to world domination).

I'm often picked on, bullies assuming I'm weak and defenseless. Heh, how wrong they are. I may not look it but I'm hella strong! I can kick anyones ass and I enjoy doing so. Those bastards thinking they can call me short and mock my muscleless body (I do have muscle dammit!). I'm lean, not scrawny. But I guess the look of shock on their faces when I beat them to the floor is always rewarding. Yes, very rewarding indeed. The girls aren't much better then the bullies either. They feel the need to... protect me and my innocence because I'm just so adorable and cute. Damn bitches! I'm not adorable and they have no right to whisper that behind my back when they first see me! (I'm fucking hot and manly!).

So yes, as you and I can both predict, my first days are never fun. Yet thats not even the worst part! Kami hates me, I know it.

It started out with me waking up late. Thats not an unusual occurrence but I told myself I'd be making a fresh start here. So much for that plan. After sprinting into my new shower to my new apartment I showered in less then five minutes. I ran back out, dripping water everywhere and threw my clothes on my still dripping body not even bothering to tuck the red T-shirt into the black pants and flung my black jacket over my shoulder (my orange earring, orange bracelet and crystal necklace never come off) before propelling out of there and into my kitchen. Unfortunately, I had no time to eat so with my book bag around my neck and my keys in my pocket, I was outta there. I was like a blond flash trying to find my new school. Just so happens I moved in yesterday and haven't really explored yet. So, I easily became lost. After running up a random road and then backtracking, I found a little old lady who looked so sweet and nice.

How wrong I was. As I tried to ask her for directions and maybe, if I felt extra nice help her across the road, she decided to whack me over the head with her cane repeatedly as she screamed that she was getting mugged. I tried to calm her down and explain I only needed some help, she ignored me. Finally, when she realized I was harmless, she stopped and listened. She told me where the school was and told me to stop bothering her as I was a pest. She then hit me one time for good measures before walking right in front of a car, forcing the car to slam on the breaks and barely missed her. She cursed the poor driver out saying he almost killed her. I decided to take my leave then. I was late enough as it is. Old people are mean and scary.

FInally, I arrived at school (not having a chance to check out the surroundings) only to find it empty. Completely. Not even a random late kid rushing to class. I had to get my timetable off the principle first so I walked to the end of the hallway. It split off in two directions and yes, there was signs. Only problem, there were two signs that said office and each pointed in the opposite direction. Just my luck.

One said N. Office, the other M. Office. So I spent about five minutes trying to decipher what N and M stood for before doing enny, meany, minny, mow. I landed on N. Office so I veered down the right hall. After walking for another five minutes I found N. Office. Any guess to what it might mean? Nurses office (why can't they just call it a damn infirmary). So I sprinted back and went to the left instead this time. With glee, I found the Main office. Entering, I was greeted by a black haired women. She was really nice. She directed me to the principle, Tsunade's office.

After entering, she proceeded to yell at me for being late, before asking who the hell I was (was that sake I see on her desk?). I told her it wasn't my fault and she called me a brat, which led to me calling her an old hag and finally, I received my timetable and locker number.

I found out my first class was English with Kakashi-sensei in room 20. That wouldn't be too hard to find. I found myself speaking too soon as I walked out of the office and found room 18, then 2 and then 27. I don't know if this is suppose to be a joke on the new kids, but it certainly wasn't funny. Whoever made this school seems to have failed to learn how to count. Damn bastards, always making things harder.

After walking for about ten minutes, I came across room 20 on the second floor. I knocked before entering, only to find about thirty seniors staring back at me in surprise. The teacher asked me what I was doing here so I told him I was new and this was supposedly my room. He looked at my timetable and dryly told me that first class had passed. Checking the clock, I found he wasn't lying. The bell must have rung while I was talking with the Hag. My next class was Science with Orochimaru. His name was creepy. I kindly asked the seniors where room 15 was (ignoring their comments on how cute I was and how they wanted to just hug me to smithereens). The kindly told me on the forth floor and that the door to that hallway was slightly stiff. I thanked them and left, thinking about how kind the seniors were.

When I got to the top of the forth floor, I found a small white door, unlike on the other stairways and there was barely any light up here. I tugged on the door, it was stuck. After about a minute of fighting the door, I got it open and walked out before some kind of light decided to blind me. With a thud the door slammed shut and I found myself looking at something blue. Bluuuuuuu. Bleeeeew. Blue? OH SHIT! It's the sky. I was on the roof.

The door had locked on it's self so I was stuck. Luckily, an extremely large tree was within jumping distance of the roof. I did so without fear and got to ground without problem after climbing down, oh, except the damn seniors tricked me. They aren't so nice anymore. I'll get back at them though. I walked back into the building only to find room 15 quite easily. I knocked once again and when the door opened, I screamed.

Silence rang through the classroom as I was face to face with a long black haired man. His eyes were yellow and slitted, reminding me of a snake. He didn't look to pleased at my yell, actually, he looked like he want to murder me on the spot. As I peaked around him into the classroom, I was relieved to find people my age.

The tall demon man asked me to state my business. I told him I was new. He asked why I was so late. I told him I had to climb down a tree before I got here. He didn't look too impressed and told me I wasn't funny. I told him I didn't think that was funny either (it wasn't meant to be). He then asked why I screamed and I, being who I am, told him cooly that if someone saw his face and didn't scream, I'd be impressed. I got detention.

I had to introduce myself to the class and immediately the girls started going on about how cute I was. I hate being called cute, I'm a guy for god sakes! To my anger, I could tell I was the shortest of all the guy and a good deal of the girls (if only by slightly). No fair! I didn't make any friends either.

The rest of the classes went by smoothly, until lunch at least. I found out I forgot my money so I couldn't buy my lunch. I decided I would sit outside and do my best to ignore my rumbling stomach. I didn't eat breakfast either you see. So, I was starving.

When three guys approached me, what happened after really wasn't my fault. You see, if a girl called my cute, I'd just deal with it cause I can't exactly hit a girl but when a tall, brown haired boy with two upside down triangular tattoo's asked me why I was cute, I lost it. Now, when you think about it, it probably wasn't a good idea. He after all had two other, much bigger then me guys behind him. One had black hair styled up like a duck butt and the other had long, brown hair. But I never really think before I act so I yelled and cursed at them while dog boy looked at me in shock and the other two kept their stoic expressions. (I could tell they were shocked).

Angry, doggy (who really did look like a dog) took out a dagger and threatened me with it. I then realized just who I had crossed. A gang. You'd think by now I'd know better, after all I anger nearly all the gangs at my old schools, but I'm still making the same mistake. Damn overconfident bastards, thinking they rule the school which they probably do. Not that I care. No one controls me.

I told him to do it, see if I care. He looked shocked. I'm not as stupid as I look. I held out my arms and told him to take his best shot. Now the other two looked slightly surprised. The bell ended up ringing before I could see what Mr. Dog would do. He told me I was saved by the bell. I told him I was just about to say the same thing. I left.

I got glares after that from numerous people. I expect they are all part of dog boys gang and heard of what I did, not that I did anything. Once again, I'm on the bad side of a gang. Fan-fucking-tastic! I walked home alone, this time not getting lost when school finally ended. See, school really wasn't good for me today.

I came home to an empty house, like usual. Some teens think this is their dream. Life alone, no parents to tell you what to do, to watch, to eat, when to go to bed, when to clean. Total freedom. Any teens dream really. Yet they don't realize exactly what they have. Because when you come home you're alone, no mother to greet you with a kiss on the cheek. When you go into your room, she doesn't bring you in your favorite snack (or fruit and threaten you to eat it or else). Your brother doesn't come home from detention (you don't bother to wait for him after school anymore as he's always in detention) even though he's in senior year. He doesn't peak in your room, steal your food and call you short before leaving again. He then doesn't come in later after you finished your homework and bribe/bully you into doing some of his homework. You don't do it all wrong just in spite of him. You're father doesn't come home some time later and come visit you and your brother in your room as you play video games, shouting and cursing all the while. And you don't eat the homemade dinner your mom had been slaving over in the kitchen, making sure to add her love into it. When you go to sleep at night, you don't have a loving family to give you protection and assurance when you feel scared or have nightmares.

You're alone. Instead, you come home and spend the whole night on homework before cooking instant ramen (even though you can cook you don't have enough time). You jump in the shower before watching a bit of Tv before going to bed. And soon, you'll have a job and even less time as you struggle to juggle school, work and homework. No, you have no one. Being alone is a curse. Stupid teens and their ignorance to what they have.

It was only when I was going to bed did I remember a crucial fact I had apparently forgotten. I had detention today, which I didn't attend. Isn't that just perfect! Orochimaru isn't going to just dislike me now, he's going to downright hate me. Why do I attract so much trouble? I don't think I'll even figure that out.

My name is Uzumaki Naruto. I am fourteen years old and in 9th grade (freshman year). I have just transfered in the middle of the year to my new school. I live alone in my new apartment. I have three scars on each cheek which is nearly constantly covered by make-up as it would be too recognizable. So far, I have made no friends and my first day of the new high school was terrible. Maybe this year will hold more luck for me...

... Or not.

XxXxXxXx

Please review, if you do I'll be inspired to continue this story! I love reading review too and they really help me! Anyways, tell me how you think! Thanks for reading!

Coolbluerocker


	2. Double Horned Purple Unicorns

Hey everyone! A little disappointed, last time I checked I had no reviews! If I don't get any more I doubt I'll be continuing. I really like this story though! I mean, I actually thought the first chapter was great, one of my best but if I didn't get any reviews I guess it wasn't as good as I thought. If you want me to continue please review or else I'll think there's no use in continuing a story no one likes so please review for my sake (as I really, really like this story) and yours (if you likes it). Thanks.

**Summary:**He wasn't one of them. He knew the truths of the world. He had lived this life before and somehow, he had escaped. He'd be damned if he once again got sucked into it. There was to much pain from the last time he chose that road, but, could he really let them go when they were inexperienced? They'd die before they got a chance to even shoot for the stars. And dammit, they weren't backing down now.

**Warning: **This is Sasunaru so it will be boyxboy, in later chapters at least! Don't like don't read!

**Pairings: **Well, definitely Sasunaru, most likely Neji/Gaara. Possible Lee/Sakura, Kiba/Hinata, Shikamaru/Temari, Ino/Choji. I'm not sure though.. Any suggestions?

**Disclaimers: **I do not own Naruto nor will I ever :(

Double Horned Purple Unicorns

Konoha High was one of the best schools in the country. In order to even get an interview you had to be rich, smart and important. There was no scholarships into this very school. Only the very best of the best got in and when they left they were only better. Everyone there looked good and wore the most expensive designer brands, well, the girls anyways. This school by far ruled all the others.

It was funded by nearly all the families therefore could have trees very well growing money if they wanted. What they called a small donation to charity could feed thousands. If you went to this school you were proud. The envy of all your peers.

Two monstrous buildings made up this school. The walls were made of granite and looked new. The windows sparkled from their daily cleaning. The gardens were beauties out of this world. The grass was trimmed daily and roses bloomed in various colors all over the place. A few Sakura tree's stood at the front gates and under them the grass was practically pink from the fallen petals. There was a large fountain spewing crystal clear water before the main entrance. Coins were littering the bottom from past wishes.

All in all the school looked elegant. Inside the halls were kids on their way to class. Girls wore short black skirts that stopped mid thigh and wine red shirts were worn over them, some tucked into the skirt, others hanging freely over them. There was a dark black jackets with the school crest stitched in a pocket over the right side of the chest.

The guys uniform was nearly the same with black, slightly baggy pants. The same color red shirts we worn only theirs were button ups. The black jacket worn over it was the same as well. The uniform itself cost over five hundred and was made of only the best materials.

But while Konoha High was a clean, well run school, it also contained many gang members from different gangs. One of the most well known gangs was Chidori, which ruled all the others in rivaling schools. It was only right the highest standard school held the strongest gang. Every student in the school knew just who was a member of this gang and if you crossed their path you wouldn't come out unscathed.

Currently, two of the members to this gang were walking down their school campus. Students parted to make space for them, none wanting to be on the receiving end of their anger. Some students even went as far as going around the long way - around the back of the school - to avoid them. The way they saw it, the closer you were to them the easier you could make the mistake of pissing one of them off.

One of them, a boy with brown shaggy hair and slightly slitted brown eyes walked in a tired, sluggish way. He had an upside down triangle on each cheek and slightly bigger then normal fangs. He was tall and muscular with tan skin. His appearance reminded you of a dog. He wore the normal uniform without his shirt tucked in and his jacket seemingly disappeared. His eyebrow had a silver piercing in it. He was ho~ot!

The guy next to him was about the same height, give or take a few centimeters. He had black - tinged bluish - hair that framed his face and pale skin. His eyes were like pools of night, never-ending. He wore the uniform like his friend only slightly neater and had his jacket on. In one ear he had a black stud. He occupied many girls dreams - unwillingly of course.

"Hey Sasuke, you hear about the new kid?" The brunette asked.

"Yes, they're the talk of the school. If anyone didn't know about it then it would be surprising." Sasuke replied in a monotone.

"No need to get mean. I was just asking."

"Well Kiba, I really don't care. If you just thought about it then maybe you would have realized it was a meaningless question."

Kiba growled but remained silent for the time being. Heh, yeah right.

"So you think it's a boy or girl? I hope it's a chick."

"Kiba. Shut up!"

"You're no fun Mrs. Ice Princess." The dog boy whined.

"Kiba, I don't know why you're confused by my gender but I assure you I am a girl so shut the fuck up and stop making me feminine dammit!" Came the hissed reply.

"Geeze, what's stuck up your ass."

"Not you, that's for sure."

"Eww... Sasuke! Way to ruin a mood!"

"Hn." Sasuke smirked, finally getting his companion to shut up.

...

"I really hope it's a girl."

"Shut up!"

XxXxXxXx

The duo arrived at first class pretty early. They were greeted by their friends who were in the same class which consisted of Sakura, Choji, Shikamaru, Neji, Hinata and Ino. They slipped into their seats and all listened as Sakura and Ino gossiped on how the new person was supposedly a girl and Sakura was directly told that 'she' was in their class. Kiba howled as he said she better be hot.

The first bell rang followed by the second which signaled the start of class, no new student had arrived. Kakashi wasn't on time either - like usual - but they thought he might make an effort for the new kid. About half way through class he entered with a bright smile - although you couldn't tell he was smiling as his face was covered by a mask. No one knew why he wore it or even where the hell he got a mask but only one eye was ever visible.

"YOU'RE LATE!"

"Sorry class! I got lost in the supermarket and was stuck there for days without food or water. I barely survived but my instincts kicked in and I fought off all the promotions with my ninja ski-"

"Can you just start class. No one wants to hear your terrible lies!" Neji hissed, effectively shutting their teacher up.

"Sometimes I wonder who's the student and who's the teacher." The silver haired man mumbled under his breath.

"Kakashi-sensei, where's the new student?" Sakura asked in disappointment.

"Eh, probably lost in a supermarket."

"Or maybe they're lost in the school. I mean, it takes a while to get use to and all." Ino replied.

"Anyways, to start this lesson-"

Brrrrrrrrrring

The class got up and started packing their bags, the lesson over. The heard the cheery shout of Kakashi who was celebrating the end of class and all wondered the same thing 'is he actually a teacher?' Heading towards their next class, Sasuke, Ino and Shikamaru broke off with the rest of the group and met up with Temari, Shino, Tenten, and Gaara to go to Orochimaru's science class. He was a weird teacher who had dead animals and other things in jars on his walls. He was creepy to say the least and definitely a pedophile.

After sending glares to all his student - he never found many who actually attracted his attention - he handed out a pop quiz and everyone groaned. He loved when they failed so he gave them tests on random chapters they never studied, some chapters even from higher years. Not even the brainiacs of the class could get A's on them.

About half way through class there was a knock on the door and Orochimaru growled as he stalked to it, slamming it open and glaring. Everyone was watching as the test was impossible and they were open to any distraction available.

To everyones amusement, the person behind the door screamed. Some students dared stand up to try and see their new visiter but their teachers body fully blocked them. After a second, they could feel the anger radiating from the snake like man and felt pity on the unfortunate victim.

"What is your business interrupting my class!" The evil man demanded as he stepped back and a small boy appeared. He didn't look scared in the slightest as he stood there.

"I'm new." He stated in indifference.

"Then why are you late to my class. I expect my students to be punctual." The mans glare grew as the boy seemed comfortable. No one was at ease under his glare. It never happened before. It was impossible to be immune to his wishes of death on poor, innocent souls.

"In order to get here I had to climb down a tree. It wasn't that easy ya'know."

The snake man then obtained an emotionless look. "You're not funny."

"I don't think I'm funny either." Equally emotionless and stated as the boy had his hands shoved into his pockets, completely relaxed.

"And why, pray tell, did you scream?" An eyebrow rose as the man asked.

"Well, honestly, if someone saw you're face and didn't scream, I'd be impressed." Laughs could be heard through the class but were quickly silenced when Orochimari sent them a glare.

"Detention. Don't be late again or else you'll suffer worse consequences. Now introduce yourself." The boy walked into the middle of the class and a few gasps were heard. He was by no means ugly. His bring blond hair was wild and golden while his sky blue eyes outdid the sky any day. He was short, very short and skinny but lean. An orange earring in his ear made him look cool.

"Uzumaki Naruto. Nice to meet you." Squeals were heard throughout the class as girls began to whisper.

"Wow Sasuke, he's like... As hot as you!" Ino whispered to the raven haired boy who just 'hn'ed. Truthfully, he had never seen someone so beautiful in his life. The boy was small and slightly curved but strong and determined. You could tell by the look in his eyes. His clothes hugged him nicely and it looked perfect with his own little accessories.

He took a seat next to some girl who immediately tried to talk to him, tilting her head down and blinking up at him (she was about the same height as him) in what she thought was a cute manner but actually made the blond want to puke. He hated girls who thought by just being cute he'd date them. He liked to get to know a girl (and sometimes guy) before going out with them. So, he ignored her advances.

It wasn't long before lunch arrived and the gang were getting their lunches. Once that was done they headed towards their table (outside), the one that no one ever dared to sit at unless you were part of the legendary group. It was one of the largest tables in the cafeteria. Ino, Sakura, Kiba, Shikamaru, Choji, Kankuro, and Lee sat at one side while across from them was Hinata, Tenten, Sasuke, Neji, Gaara, Temari and Shino.

"U-um, K-Kiba. Where's Ak-Akamaru?" Hinata asked as she stared down at her lap.

"Oh him? He's somewhere on school grounds. He's really starting to grow."

Temari smirked. "No way, that dogs tiny! A runt!"

"Shut up! He just hasn't hit his growth spurt yet. Soon enough you'll be eating those words!"

"Sure, Sure."

Kiba suddenly stood up as he noticed a lone blond sitting under a tree. "Hey, that's the new kid, right?" The others also turned to look.

"Yeah, it is. Troublesome." Shikamaru muttered as he went back to poking his lunch.

"Hey Sasuke, Neji. Wanna come with me an' mess with him?" A mad grin was stretched across his tan face.

Another smirk was returned. "Hn."

"Sure." The three stood up and made their way over to the smaller boy. Once they reached him, they looked down. "Hey, blondie! Why are you so cute? I mean, you can hear all the girls whispering it. Are you a cross dresser or something?" Kiba asked smugly. The three smirked as the blond bristled before rushing up into standing position, fists clenched.

"You think you're so great, don't you asshole. You think the whole world will fucking bow down before your mother fucking ass! I've seen the way people avoid you shits! You expect me to just let you stand all over me like I'm some kind of fucking bug! I. Am. Not. Short! Have you ever though that maybe, you're just freakishly tall? You're giants! With you big fucking prides and you bigger fucking mouths! You're all talk. No one gives two shits about you. You scare them into obeying you! You're like a fucking purple unicorn with two god damn horns! Two to show off and make you look bigger and stronger then you really are to get fucking respect you don't deserve! You mother fucking rainbows in black and white with a soup river below you in the fucking winter with now fucking snow and a big ass tree that keeps on fucking eating your shitty air!" The boy panted after he finished, glaring up at the three who by now were practically gaping. What the fuck was a soup river?

"You little shit!" Kiba hissed as he pulled out his knife, waving it around in warning. He smirked when the blonds eyes widened.

"Go ahead kibbles." The blond smirked. "What, you're not backing down now, are you? Come on, I won't even move. Take your best shot."

Brrrrrring

Kiba looked slightly nervous as he talked. "You're lucky, saved by the bell."

"Hm, took the words right outta my mouth. Next time, I won't take empty threats. See ya 'round Kibbles, Teme, Eyeball." The three shared a look.

"Nicknames already?" The raven mumbled.

"At least you're not 'Eyeball', seriously. Eyeball!" Neji whined.

"The little bastard. Accusing me of making empty threats!"

"Well, thanks to you we missed lunch. We better get to math."

"Whatever."

XxXxXxXx

During math class, Sasuke and Kiba were explaining what happened. Well, Kiba was explaining, Sasuke was 'hning' here and there. The blond was in their class, unsurprisingly. He had nearly all the classes Sasuke had. Sakura and Ino were in denial about what their new toy had done. Kiba was going on about how the boy was suicidal and Sasuke was pretty sure the blond could hear every word they were saying. He figured that was Kiba's point.

Class went by quickly and before they knew it, school was out. Everyone was heading to Kiba's house after school for some fun, although that probably meant homework and junk food. As Sasuke hitched a ride off Kiba, having walked to school that day, he noticed along with Shikamaru a blob of blond walking home alone as they sped past.

The feeling of guilt swept through him at the way everyone was avoiding the boy. Going in a clear circle around him to try and stay away from that depressing feeling the boy was just leaking. Sasuke had only drove past when he, and everyone else in Kiba's car which he was sure exceeded the number of occupants allowed, shivered. The boys emotions practically filled the air for a moment before it was gone as were they.

He was positive the infected air got in through the open window.

XxXxXxXx

Okay, I really didn't like the ending of this story. I mean really, infected air! I couldn't really think of anything else though. I guess it was trying to highlight the fact that Naruto's emotions are pretty open and really effect everyone around him. Anyways, like I previous said, please review. It won't take too long and really will inspire me! Thanks for reading!

Coolbluerocker


	3. Damsel In Distress

Neeeeeeeeeeew chappie! Hey guys, this is the new chapter! I really loved hearing your reviews and now I know my story doesn't totally suck! So really thanks! Well, I hope you like and review this chapter too! Not my favorite chapter but it's needed. I hope it's not bad... anyways, thanks!

**I WANT TO THANK...**

**FlyingArtist - **heyyy! Thanks for my first review! I don't know what a soup river is, sorry (Naruto is kinda random here)! And when you said a unicorn with chicken butt hair I was laughing soooo hard! I can actually imagine it! Thanks for the nice review!

**Blackandwhiteangel13 - **Love fan-fucking-tastic too! Thanks for the review so much! I really like hearing peoples comments! Anyways, I hope you like this chapter! Thanks again!

**AnitaTv - **Glad you liked it and though it was cool! I hoped it was! So, I hope you like this chapter too!

** - **Thanks! I hope I don't make too many mistakes in writing and stuff! I'm glad you thought it was good! Thanks for reviewing!

**Sezthekitty - **Okay, first of all, love the name! I love kitties! And second thanks so much for reviewing! Means a lot! And I love giving Kiba nicknames, he makes it too easy! Thanks again!

**Summary:**He wasn't one of them. He knew the truths of the world. He had lived this life before and somehow, he had escaped. He'd be damned if he once again got sucked into it. There was to much pain from the last time he chose that road, but, could he really let them go when they were inexperienced? They'd die before they got a chance to even shoot for the stars. And dammit, they weren't backing down now.

**Warning: **This is Sasunaru so it will be boyxboy, in later chapters at least! Don't like don't read!

**Pairings: **Well, definitely Sasunaru, most likely Neji/Gaara. Possible Lee/Sakura, Kiba/Hinata, Shikamaru/Temari, Ino/Choji. I'm not sure though.. Any suggestions?

**Disclaimers: **I do not own Naruto nor will I ever :(

Damsel in Distress

The next few days were torture for the small blond. Like he predicted, he was the new toy for all tall, confident people. Everywhere he went people made comments about his height and how he looked feminine. He was hit on by girls and guys alike yet none tried to befriend him as Chidori had officially made him their new enemy. Every chance they got they criticized him, when he walked by their feet magically appeared out of nowhere and sent him plummeting to the hard ground. No one dared approach him or else they'd get the same treatment Chidori gave him.

Naruto did his best to ignore them, stopping himself from fighting back as he was new to school and really didn't need to be kicked out this early. He was practically in love with the teachers and the school bells, every time he was about to start a fight with one of the members of Chidori, he happened to be interrupted by either a teacher walking into class or a warning bell signaling they get to class. They saved his place in the school and it really was a hard school to get in.

He hadn't had any time to really go job hunting from overload in homework and catching up but at the end of the month he had rent to pay and no money meant no house so he promised himself he'd find a job, or at least try. So at lunch he rushed through whatever homework he had received earlier that day. It was only when he noticed he was missing his Science book to do the twenty-something questions that he actually noticed the table where the local gang sat was empty, completely.

He silently wondered why exactly no one was there as it was lunch. There were other students strolling around, talking with friends and playing games. Shrugging it off, Naruto left to get his forgotten book. A few other students were milling along but he didn't recognize any of them. The students seemed to lessen the further he went and soon the halls he was in were deserted. He realized a bit too late he was lost. At least he had an excuse, he was new and still had the right to get lost.

The further he went, the more confused he became. Turning back around wouldn't do him any good and he just hoped he'd find someone else soon. Surely a teacher or someone would be around here somewhere... although the classrooms looked abandoned. The school had enough rooms to contain some of which were never used. He wanted to stop and just wait for the bell to ring and students to file in but something was telling him to keep moving, that he needed to do something or be somewhere. He guessed the feeling was instinct and he always listened to his instinct, if you didn't it could get you killed.

He just reached a turn in the hallway when he heard shouting. He quickly pushed himself against the wall before he was noticed and peaked around the corner. He was met with two big guys cornering a girl. Looking closer he recognized her. She had long blue/black hair and pale lavender pupil-less eyes. The two boys were yelling at her and looked about to strike her while she was on the verge of tears. Before Naruto could do anything she made a break for it and slipped under their arms. She was running in his direction. Quickly diving back against the wall, he listened. He could hear her light footsteps and after hers the rough, loud footsteps of her followers. She raced around the corner, cheeks pink and breathing ragged. Her panicked eyes met his calm blue and she looked surprised but didn't stop. Just as fast as their eye locking came, it was broken from her flying past him. Naruto didn't move and when he heard the other two pairs of footsteps turn the corner, his foot was pushed out and the the first one tripped over it, his face meeting the ground. The second saw his partner fall and tried to stop by taking a leap over his friends body but ended up coming short and landed on his friends back.

"So, how are you two lovely gentlemen? It seems you decided to drop on by." Naruto asked casually with a hint of sarcasm at the start. "Although, next time you do try not to fall flat on you're faces, It makes you look bad."

"Who the hell are you!" The one who fell first demanded after pushing himself up.

"Oh, just you're friendly hero who happens to be there at the right place at the right time to save the damsel in distress." Naruto replied.

"You're that new kid, right?" The second one asked.

"I prefer to be called my name, not 'the new kid' thanks." Out of the corner of his eye, Naruto noticed the girl had stopped a little ways away.

"Well, _new kid, _it seems you don't know who we are. I think I should inform you we're part of Ranma, one of the strongest gangs around and messing with us wouldn't be a good idea if you value your life." The two seemed to get cockier, if that was possible. Their chests puffing out and smirks taking over their faces.

"Well, you seem to misunderstand me. You see, I. Don't. Care. You could be fucking Santa Claus and I wouldn't give two shits. I suggest you leave. Anyways, do you know who _she _is. A part of Chidori if I'm not mistaken. Are you trying to start a war?" Naruto growled out, glaring at the duo.

"We don't give a fuck who she is and we can do what we want when we want. Move out of our way runt. If you do we might just excuse your interference because you're new." The threat didn't faze Naruto in the slightest.

"I'm sorry, you seem to have mistaken me for someone else." The two from Ranma smirked, waiting for the blond to move aside. "You seem to think I'll just walk away like this didn't happen. Just remember, you brought this on yourselves." A somewhat insane smile crept onto the blonds face and without giving them a chance to take in his words, he attacked.

XxXxXxXx

"Are you okay?" A worried boy asked the girl who was in shock as he peered up into her face.

"Y-you... them... h-how... fight?" The girl managed to squeak out as she stared at the barely recognizable seniors who had been following her earlier. They were bruised and unconscious.

"Eh, them? They're fine. But I am curious. You, part of the oh so bad gang Chidori needs help from a lost student. Ironic, ne? Aren't you suppose to be strong and brave?" Naruto questioned, looking at her curiously.

"O-oh... I'm n-not part of Ch-Chidor-ri. M-my Nii-sa-san is in th-that group an-and they're my fr-frien-nds." Hinata explained between stutters.

"Friends with a gang. Isn't that dangerous?" Naruto paused as he glanced at the two Ranma members. "Does that happen often?"

"No, no-normally I-I have someone el-else with me an-and they wo-won't co-ome near me bu-but they sep-separat-ated me from th-them to-today." He saw her look at the two guys warily, as if they'd get up and attack her at any given moment.

"Ya'know, you're pretty strong."

"Wha-?"

"Very strong actually."

"No... I-I'm not stro-ong. I co-couldn't even de-defend myself. Yo-you're strong."

"Naw, you see, I can beat up people and stuff but I'm not strong, not like you." Naruto gave her a small smile, one that was honest and warmed her heart forcing her to return it.

"B-but, I'm sh-shy and I-I stutter an-and no one ev-ever even no-notices m-me. Ho-how can I po-possibly be st-strong?" A small blush spread across the girls pale skin as she spoke.

"Maybe, but the strong I'm talking about is the way you stick by your friends no matter who they are or what they do. I think that's real strength, being able to look danger in the face and ignore it for the sake of the people you love and want to protect. You could be killed by just being their friend but still you stand by them because of the bonds you have!"

"Re-really?" Hinata squeaked but looked happy that someone thought she was strong.

"Yeah. You have so much trust in them and are truly loyal to the ones you care about. In a way, you're like the symbol of hope. I've never met someone who believed in someone so much." Naruto paused. He wanted to tell her that she gave him hope but he just met her. It would be slightly awkward. "You've helped me. Thanks."

As he began to walk away Hinata took a step forward, her arm reached out in a desperate manner. "Wa-wait! You're na-names N-Naruto, right?"

"Yep, and you're Hinata-chan?"

"Y-yes!"

"Well, see ya around Hinata-chan!" With a two fingered saluta, Naruto had disappeared around the corner. Hinata was left standing on her own in the halls. When one of the two Ranma guys groaned Hinata took her leave. Once she reached the main halls she was assulted by brown.

"Hinata! Are you okay? We've been searching for you! What happened?" A worried Kiba demanded as he held her at arms length, checking her over for injuries.

"I-I'm fine K-Kiba-kun. Really!" Hinata said through her blush. The boy was holding her really tightly.

"Hinata!" Kiba was shoved out of the way and Neji replaced him.

"Neji-niisan!"

"God Hina! Don't ever disappear like that again! We've been searching for ages. Are you okay! Did anyone hurt you. Why'd you disappear?" Neji demanded as he held her close. Hinata relished in the warmth of her cousins hold as it was rare for Neji to show such caring emotions.

"I'm okay Niisan... An angel helped me."

XxXxXxXx

Naruto turned the corner away from his sorta-new-friend. He kept on walking, content with himself. He had finished most of his homework, saved a girl from some bullies, helped the girl to realize just how strong she was and gained a reason to keep hope during his search.

It was going to be a rough ride and the harshness of the world was not something new to him, but it's been too long to give up now. He was resourceful and hard working. He wasn't about to just stop hunting when he got a new led. He had a feeling... this was where he was suppose to be and this is where his search would finally end.

Finally coming back to the real world he realized he had absolutely no clue as to where the hell he was. Turning around, he found two hallways, each going a different direction. "... Hinata-chan?" He called, hoping she wasn't too far off from where he was. There was no answer.

"Dammit! I'm lost _again! _Someone should really put a fucking map in the damn school! I swear to God when I find out who built this school I'll kill them!"

XxXxXxXx

Okay, I hope that was good and if the ending confuses you, everything will soon (I think) be revealed. I sound like a trailer for a movie... Anyways, please review and I hope you enjoyed reading this chapter!

Coolbluerocker


	4. Ignorant Fools

Hey guys! It's been too long! I've actually had this written for quiet some times, I just wasn't bothered to go over it and fix any mistakes I made... Eh, yeah, sorry. Anyways, thanks for all the reviews, they really do mean a lot. I wanted to say also thanks to Rukz, your suggestions helped and I like hearing my readers opinions and I just wanted to let you know the first chapter kinda was suppose to be a summary (came out much too long though). But I hope if you like the story you review cause it really gives me confidence.

Now, onto a more important matter, one of my reviewers got me thinking (KyouyaxCloud). They suggester an itakyuu pairing and lately I too have been into itakyuu, but I'm pretty sure I know how this story is going to end and it'll be kinda like a cliffhanger (kinda) so there will be no showing up of any of Naruto's family members, although there will be talk of them and most likely some flashbacks with them in it, but there might be a sequel or something as like I said it might be kinda cliffer-hangery-ish (I know, it's a bit early to be thinking of a sequel). So some of you after reading this chapter might know what will happen in the next but I just wanted to ask, Itakyuu or ItachixDeidara? You can send me a message with your vote or just put it on a review if you're are going to review. Also, in the end even if you choose one of them I might decide to do the other as it would be more convenient.

So, Itakyuu, or ItachixDeidara?

Ignorant Fools

Sasuke was a normal teenager. He went to school, had a lovy dovy family, an annoying older brother and a nice, big house. He got nearly all strait A's and was pretty much famous. The typical 'girls want to be with him, guys want to be him' kind of guy. He was strong and muscular.

During his first year of middle school he became known as the cool badass. He could beat any student who challenged him in a fair fight and wasn't afraid of getting in trouble when doing so. He would never back down. He was cruel and angry then. He didn't have many friends and had too many enemies. His angry was fueled by his fangirls. They never gave up on him and because of it people avoided him. He found it unfair that his brother never had these problems. While his brother did have a big fan club they admired him from afar, too afraid to get close. Despite this, he and his family were close.

During his second year in middle school he got the shocker of his lifetime. Inuzuka Kiba approached him. Normally, the other boy would avoid him as he was a prick but the dog-like boy strolled over and began making conversation with him and Neji like they were good friends. Then, in the middle of that year, one of the presidents of his fan club resigned. Yamanaka Ino who was president gave up on him, the other president, Haruno Sakura soon followed. At the end of the year the two were in his gradually increasing group of friends while his anger was decreasing.

At the start of his third and last year in middle school, he had already become friends with the genius Nara Shikamaru and his best friend Akimichi Choji. Soon followed Lin Tenten, Rock Lee and Hyuga Hinata. By the middle of that year he started a gang, him being the leader. Aburame Shino, and the Sand siblings Temari, Kankuro and Gaara soon joined. By the end of that year, they were all friends and the strongest gang in middle school.

Their first year of High School was next and they all had made plans in middle school to get in together. Not one of them was left out. They replenished their power over the new school and was in control once again. It was all going well, at least, until the middle of the school year when a new student came.

For Sasuke, it all went downhill from there. It was annoying for him because no matter how mean he was, how icy his glare was or how strong he was the boy wouldn't back down. He wasn't afraid of him or his team, not like all the other students were. He didn't avoid them at all costs, he didn't walk around them (instead he walked right through them), he wasn't carful around them. Naruto just wouldn't back down!

They had tried all they could, from tripping him in the halls to bullying everyone into not befriending him. The kid kept going with no friends, poor treatment and harsh whispers. It was as if the guy put up with all the crap just in spite of Sasuke.

But today school was over and it was Friday. He got through the first week with that brat! He and his friends would have nothing to do all weekend but hang out. Probably go to the ice cream parlor and chill, picking on people they recognized from rivalling gangs. And even better, they got barely any homework!

School just let out and they were wandering around town, still in their uniforms but couldn't work up the energy to care. It was a bit too cold for ice cream so they decided to skip. They wandered around until about six o'clock when some had to leave for home. The few who were left decided to go out to eat. So Sasuke, Ino, Kiba, Shikamaru, Hinata, Neji, Choji and Gaara were left. Temari and Kankura had to leave cause an old friend was coming to visit or something but Gaara didn't really know them so he was left to stay.

"You know, there's this really good restaurant down the road! Wanna go?" Ino suggested as the group wandered along.

"As long as it's not too far away. Walking is troublesome." Shikamaru mumbled, hands buried in pockets and shoulders slumped.

"I'm in! I don't care where we go! I'm starving!" Kiba shouted and began dragging them along.

"I guess so. Better not be another salad only place." Sasuke growled to the blond girl.

"Don't worry! I'm over my 'need to eat less' stage!" Ino assured as she began to run along while dragging the annoyed Shikamaru and Choji, smiling brightly. The shop they arrived at was cute and had a homely feel to it. It was a baby blue and white color and the name 'Namaki's' was written across the top. Going though a little door that jingled they were met with a smallish restaurant. The tables had silky white linen cloth over them and a flower in the middle of each. The place was practically full with customers. There was a door at the back a few people walked though but the teens didn't care where it led. They took their seats, all squished together at one of the few open tables.

Nearly as soon as they sat down a waiter came rushing over to them. He was dressed in black jeans and a black T-shirt with a half apron wrapped around his waist. He was smiling brightly and staring down at his note pad, reading something off of it.

"So, can I get you guys anything to-" He finally looked up. "Fuck!" A few coughs and blushed spread across the table.

"Anything to fuck, no thanks. But drinks would be nice." Sasuke answered with a smirk.

"Hello Naruto-kun," Hinata mumbled, cheeks still tainted pink.

"Hey Hinata-chan! You bastard! What are you doing here!"

"Eating, what else."

"You fucking ass-" Naruto began swearing but was cut off by a dangerous and really pissed off voice.

"Uzumaki! Get the hell over here!" Naruto froze, eyes widening. He cursed some more before plastering a smile on his face and turning towards a man with long white hair and black eyes. The man didn't look too happy as the blond made his way over.

"Your first day on the job and already you're talking back to customers!" The man ranted loudly, loud enough for the gang to hear him.

"But I know them!"

"I don't care! You go over there and show them some respect! I expect you to apologize and get them anything they ask for! You're lucky I hired you kid, underage and all!"

"Yes Jiaraya! I'm grateful... Sorry old man!" With that he turned back to his schoolmates. "Sorry about that! Can I get you anything to drink?" They all gave him their orders and he was off after placing menus on their table.

"What did his boss mean by 'underage'?" Neji commented. "It's not illegal to work."

A sigh came from Shikamaru. "I've seen some people entering and leaving that door at the back. I think it might lead to a bar or something."

"Really!" Ino gasped as her eyes locked on the door. Curiosity flooded though her, taking over her senses. She wanted to go back there and see if Shikamaru's assumption was true. Just as she was about to stand up and make her way over there Naruto reappeared, drinks balanced on a tray.

"Okay! Coke for kibbles! Lazy-ass gets a Rootbeer. 7-up for Hinata-chan! Teme gets Dr. Pepper! A Snapple for Miss Priss! Eyeball gets Lemonade. Some Mountain Dew for Mr. Squirrel! And last but not least, Raccoon gets Sunkist. Did I miss anyone?" By now, everyone was twitching at their new nicknames except Hinata who was blushing because she was the only one without one.

"Miss Priss! Where'd you get that!" Ino shrieked.

"Shhh! I don't need to get in more trouble! Geez. Dramatic much! It's just a nickname!" Naruto whined.

"Lazy-ass. As much as I know that's true, you couldn't come up with something a bit more... complex. Like slacker, or even lazybones?" Shikamaru questioned.

"Eh, since you're lazy when I make the nickname I get to be lazy too! Anyways, ready to order or should I come back in a few?" Everyone shared glances and deducted that yes, they were all ready. Well, except for Ino who was so busy staring at the 'door o wonder' that she forgot to look at the menu.

"I'll have the-" Neji began but was soon cut off by a glaring blond.

"Eh, all you gang members have no manners. Anyways, lady's first. Hinata-chan, what can I get for you?" For about the third time that day a blush spread across the girl in questions cheeks.

"Um I-I would li-like the-uh-the Chicken Panini pl-please!" She said, her ears soon turning red along with her face.

"Chicken Panini it is! Would you like fries with that or a salad?"

"Fries please!"

"Good choice, although, I've never tried the food here... maybe it's a bad choice.. ehhh! Never mind! Now for the other lady." The blue eyed angel looked towards what could have been his sister.

"Eh... um... I-uh.. Hmmm." With her face set in a frown and eyes staring deeply onto the page Ino tried to decide.

"You know, you look like someone who likes fish. How about some sushi rolls?" Naruto suggested.

"And fries?"

"And fries!" The boy chirped back. "Now Eyeball, what would you like?" Glare... Dark, evil, killer glare.

Stiffly Neji ordered. "The chicken pesto pasta please!"

Making his back rigid and a frown take over his face, Naruto imitated Neji. "And fries with that?" His voice lowered.

Glare. "Yes."

"M'kay! Now, Lazy-ass?"

"Cajun Chicken Roll with fries."

"And I'll have the Honey Baby Back Ribs with fries too!" Choji ordered.

"Okay, Ribs and fries. Next!"

"Salmon, tomato and lemon Panini with fries." Sasuke said, smirking up at their waiter.

"Eww.. Is that actually on the menu? Never mind, I don't want to know. Kibbles, what'll you have?"

"Hamburger with no vegetables! And lots and lots of fries!" Kiba ordered with a huge grin on his face just imagining the meat.

"Hambugarrrrrr! Now, Raccoony, what do you want?"

"Breaded fish and fries."

"Breaded fish... You mean like fish fingers?"

"No. Breaded fish."

"Okay, okay, no need to get glary. Anything else for you fine, fine people?" They received a bright smile.

"No."

"You food won't be too long then! Be back in a sec." Their meals arrived about ten minutes later and they were done within a half an hour.

"Hey, Naruto!" Jiaraya yelled to his new employee.

"Yeah?"

"There's some guys out side causing trouble. Could you tell them to shoo or I'll call the cops." The man asked. He was slightly reluctant to send the small boy out, those guys were much bigger than him but all the others had their hands full at the moment.

"Sure, boss! Be right back!" The boy then walked to the door without a single worry. It didn't take long to find the ones Jiaraya was talking about. They were trying to light a bike on fire... Wasn't working out too well for them. They didn't look to bad, if you ignored the fact that their guns were visible. Naruto couldn't help but sneer at their inexperience. If they got pulled over by a cop they'd be sent to prison immediately. They probably couldn't even aim, but that didn't mean they couldn't get lucky.

"Hey!" He jogged over. "You're on this restaurants property. Move along if you know what's good for you!"

"Oh, look! They sent a pip-squeak out to get rid of us. Why don't you tell Chidori that either they come out or we won't leave." One of them sneered. They were obviously from some small gang which wasn't very powerful but was trying to get there. They looked about his age so they were probably from another school.

"How 'bout no. You leave or I call the police." He smiled.

"Go ahead! Try."

"Okay. See you in jail." Naruto turned but was on alert. He couldn't let one of them aim those guns at him. Luckily, they weren't that stupid. Once inside he gave Jiaraya a nod, telling him they were dealt with (not that they were) and went to the gangs table. "I suggest you don't leave. There's a gang out there waiting for you. If you stay here long enough they'll leave."

"You think we'll back down from a fight?" Kiba yelled, standing up. The blond looked up to meet his eyes. _'So ignorant and cocky. They think they're great, they think they're invincible. They're gangster wannabes! Never held a gun in their life. Before they can ever become a strong gang they have to accept their weaknesses.' _

"You may not want to back down." His eyes narrowed and voice grew cold in spite. "But remember, tonight, if anything happens, not all of you chose this. Remember that there's a girl over there who isn't a part of your _gang _and what ever decision you make she'll follow because she loves you but she shouldn't be involved in this. She didn't choose to risk her life and if you make that choice for her you'll only regret it. Remember that you have people to protect and be rational. Do. Not. Leave." His eyes caught Hinata's surprised ones before he turned and stalked off, rigid with anger.

He was going to check on them every ten minutes but he ended up having to do the dishes and by the time he was done they were already gone for ten minutes. He stabbed the knife into the wooden chopping board before racing to the door. There wasn't any sign of them. He rushed back to his bag (he had come strait from school). He found what he was looking for at the bottom but hesitated. He didn't want to start again, it would only bring back the bad memories, but he couldn't do it without something to hide his identity, that would be worse then the memories. Angrily he flung his apron off _'this is their fault' _he found some really baggy pants which barely fitted they were so big and a baggy hoodie _'I shouldn't have to do this!'_ He pulled the hood over his face before strapping on the mask. _'They should have listened!' _He left through the back door into an ally way, just as he was closing the door he saw himself shining on the door knob. He hated his reflection, it was wrong. _'I don't want this!' _He turned away, no longer able to look at himself and he took off. _'Those ignorant assholes! Are they so far gone that they can't even see what's right in front of them. How dangerous this is! They're just like-' _"No." He whispered, cutting his own thoughts off. Sometimes, he hated his mind.

They couldn't have gotten too far.

XxXxXxXx

Thats it for now, like I said please review, I like all comments (well, not all if they're mean but telling me in a nice way if there's a problem I don't mind). Anyways, next chapter shouldn't be too far away, I hope... Anyways, thanks for reading!

Coolbluerocker


	5. Mistakes Are What The Children Make

Hey everyone! Im deeply sorry for the super late update. You'd think during the summer you'd have much more time but instead I've been busier then ever. I'm sorry this took so long to post but I hope the wait was worth it. I've drawn a sketch of the Mask Naruto wears in this chapter. It wont be up till tomorrow and I'll leave a link on my profile page. So, please enjoy with chapter and once again I'm sorry.

**Summary:**He wasn't one of them. He knew the truths of the world. He had lived this life before and somehow, he had escaped. He'd be damned if he once again got sucked into it. There was to much pain from the last time he chose that road, but, could he really let them go when they were inexperienced? They'd die before they got a chance to even shoot for the stars. And dammit, they weren't backing down now.

**Warning: **This is Sasunaru so it will be boyxboy, in later chapters at least! Don't like don't read!

**Pairings: **Well, definitely Sasunaru, most likely Neji/Gaara. Possible Lee/Sakura, Kiba/Hinata, Shikamaru/Temari, Ino/Choji. I'm not sure though.. Any suggestions?

**Disclaimers: **I do not own Naruto nor will I ever :(

Mistakes Are What The Children Make

"I see Chidori had finally showed up." A male sneered as he walked out from the shadows of the alleyway, his teammates not far behind. At the other end of the alley was a group of teens in plain view under a dim streetlamp. They had just showed up.

"Do you really expect us not to show!" Demanded Neji from his position beside his cousin, ready to get her out of there if the situation got too dangerous.

"Eh, you never know. We often find that the most powerful gangs really are just cowards playing a game." The guy who kept talking was obviously the leader. He had light blue hair and vibrant grey eyes. He was tall and well built in baggy clothes. "By the way, the names Aster."

"Asshole, we'll show you a powerful gang!" Kiba was always the quickest to anger and tonight was no different.

"Ooooh, the dog knows how to bark!" A girl hissed as she stepped next to her leader. Her hair was dark orange with black highlights and her eyes were pink. Piercing's littered her whole face. "They call me Izumi."

"I wonder if it knows how to bite." Another male questioned as he too became more visible. He was much bigger then the leader and was extremely buff with short brown hair and golden eyes. He was smirking cruelly at the other gang. "Beefs the name. Can you guess why?" He asked, flexing his muscle.

"Come over here and you can find out." Kiba yelled, fists clenched and growling, his upper body slightly slanted.

"K-Kiba-k-kun... M-maybe you sh-should c-calm down.." Hinata whispered as she watched the gang in fear.

"What do you want?" Sasuke questioned.

"What do we want? Hm, guys, any idea's?" The leader drawled.

"I want a pony." The Jen stated.

"I'll take a new dagger!" The Beef answered.

Another guy came into view. He was quiet small with glasses perched on his nose. His hair was black and brown while his eyes were a deep green color. He, unlike his teammates, was wearing decent clothes that someone would wear going to an important occasion. "I'd like a new car. And it's Cj"

"And me, the leader of this fine group, what would I like?" He looked as though in thought as he walked side to side, a hand under his chin. "So many thing but only one to choose... I would like... ice cream."

"Ice cream... you want ice cream!" Ino demanded in disbelief.

"Yes, is there a problem?""

"Yes, you're pissing me off. Now, why are you here, a fight?" Sasuke cut in, his in-famous glare (or is it famous?) at full strength.

"You could call it that, or you could call it a beat down as fighting against you guys really won't be much of a fight."

"You jackass! We'll show you a fight." Gaara's knife was pulled from his pocket and he flicked it open, the blade shining under the moons light.

"Oh, we're so scared!" The girl on the opposing team cried dramatically, hand thrown over head and her body tilted back.

"You think you're so much better?" Choji demanded.

"Well, let me think, a knife against a gun... I know which one would win, do you?" The leader reached into his jacket and revealed a small gun. It wasn't anything special, an old pistol that wasn't very well taken care of. He pointed it at the group as they backed away slightly, Shikamaru immediately went in front of Ino and Neji in front of Hinata. "Now, which one to kill first. Decisions, decisions... I think you should die first... You annoy me." Kiba's eyes widened in fear as the gun was facing him. "But then again, it's always good to get rid of the leader first." The gun then turned to Sasuke. "But what does it matter, you'll all die eventually." With a smirk he turned back to Kiba and pulled the trigger. A loud bang echoed in the alleyway and Kiba's eyes closed, not wanting to see the bullet that would kill him.

He was shaking in fear, his natural tan drained to a pale white and he swore his heart stopped beating for a pulse or two. No pain came. Kiba slowly opened his eyes to see what happened. The shot went off and was aimed at him, but nothing pierced his skin. No pain. Looking towards the guy who fired it he was surprised to see a black figure standing there. He had forced the leaders hand upwards so the gun shot into the sky.

The person's back was to them and they were wearing a hood so you couldn't see their hair color. They were pretty short, much shorter then the leader who was in front of them, who was currently sneering and pissed off at this person.

"Who the fuck do you think you are!" The leader spat as he shoved the other off him. They were wearing a mask with slitted eyes and a crazy smile, not to mention three whisker marks on each cheek of the mask. There was a design of swirls and the such going around the outside of the mask and a bit of light blond hair was visible under the black hood. He looked like some guy from a horror movie.

"As the murderer would say in the scary movie, your worst nightmare." You could practically hear the smirk in the masked persons voice.

"Why don't you go back to the-" The girl began but was cut off by the littlest, black haired boy.

"Shut up Izumi! Don't you know who he is!" His partners gave him a confused look.

"Who?"

"He's Kitsune, the nine tailed fox of the-"

Kitsune then cut him off as he did to the girl beforehand. "Ah, good to know someone still remembers me. I didn't think I'd be forgotten so fast."

"There's no way you're the legendary Kitsune. He's said to be brutal and deadly. You look weak and defenseless." The leader sneered at the smaller boy, his gang laughing to back him up.

The boy disappeared, only to reappear right behind the leaders back, holding Asters arm which was twisted behind his back and pressing his face against the concrete wall. "Why don't we test out to see if I am who you think I am. What have you heard Kitsune can do, maybe if I use you as my dummy I can show you just who I am." The arm was pushed further up his back making the leader cry out in pain.. "I could slowly snap each one of your fingers... that would hurt. But wait, you said I'm brutal and deadly so why don't I just cut them off completely.. It would make it all the more gory and painful, wouldn't it?"

"Ah, n-no. I-it's okay. I-I believe y-you." The leader whimpered, stuttering like Hinata. His arm was pushed up even further so it was on the verge of breaking before he was released.

"Coward, I don't want to see your faces around here again if you know what's good for you." The mysterious Kitsune backed away slightly.

"Is this... is this your territory?" Beef questioned.

"Maybe it is. Maybe it isn't. Now, you're annoying me. I suggest you leave before I really get angry." They did as they were told and raced out of the alleyway, leaving only the famous Kitsune and the gang of high school pupils. The masked figure turned to the people he saved.

"I've hear of you... Kitsune." Shikamaru said from his lazy slouched position. Even though he looked relaxed he was on guard, eyes evaluating the situation for any signs of ill intentions on him and his friends.

"I think you guys should too go home. It's late and dark. Your parents are probably worried."

A shaking and unstable Kiba stumbled over to the hidden person. He too was taller then them. "I wanted to say thanks... for saving me." The boy said. He didn't get too close to the other for fear of also being attacked despite the fact the other gang member just saved him.

"Don't go off doing stupid stuff." Was all he got in return as Kitsune turned and left in the same direction the gang from earlier left. The remaining members of Chidori shared a glance and too dispersed, heading home in a rush as the shock from earlier finally set in.

Sasuke was nearly home. He had split off from Neji and Hinata not long ago as they lived the closest to him. His mind kept on going back to when the other leader was pointing the gun. When it turned on him he had never felt so scared in his entire life. All he could see was that sadistic smirk and the gun. He felt bad when he was relieved the gun was once again pointing at Kiba. When the shot was fired and not at him, he was happy, and he hated himself for it.

They were lucky. He knew that much. They were lucky the masked figure had shown up and stopped the other, sending the shot zooming up into the sky. They were lucky no one died. They all had been so close to death, but Kiba had been fucking fired at. Kiba could have died.

_'And it would be my fault.' _A little voice in his mind supplied. He knew it was true too. If Kiba had died tonight, he, as leader, would have been at fault. He had led them to the alleyway even after Naruto had warned them not to go, that innocent lives could be lost against their will. He knew it wasn't against Kiba's will, Kiba had been one of the first to agree with him when he suggested going, but he was the leader. _'I should have been rational, seen the dangers and avoided them.'_

A sudden rage overtook him. It was the only thing he felt, thought, saw. Everything was red and he wanted to cause some damage. It flowed through his blood, burning his veins as it went and corrupting his body. He felt like he was on fire from the inside and the only way to douse the flames was to inflict damage on someone, anyone, anything. Himself.

And so he did. With a yell up utter fury he punched the nearest object. A tree. Ferociously he attacked it, his fists were soon bloody and torn but he paid them no mind. He couldn't hear the sound of flesh meeting wood nor the sound of his heavy pants, just three little words ringing like a mantra in his head _'it's my fault' _over and over again. His anger only increased when the tree was sustaining no damage. He wanted to destroy things, to beat things, to make things broken. He wanted others to feel pain like he was.

He kept on going though, believing that maybe if he hit hard enough, felt strong enough, the tree would fall. He only stopped when a hand on his shoulder alerted him to another's presence. Whipping around he came face to face with one much like his own. His older brother Itachi's.

"Sasuke, what's wrong? You're bleeding." The elder questioned worriedly. Not often was Itachi seen worried but when he finds his otouto attacking a tree nearly insanely he'd be crazy if he wasn't worried, especially when said otouto should have been home by now and he'd been sent to find him.

Sasuke looked like he was about to attack his brother but common sense soon kicked in and he lowered his fists. "Nii-san... it's all my fault."

"What's all your fault Sasuke?" Now Itachi was even more worried. Did something happen. Was it to do with Sasukes gang?

Tears began to stream down his face and Itachi instantly pulled the boy into his chest. "K-Kiba and-and the gun and-and it's all my fault!"

Itachi grabbed his younger boys shoulders and gently shook him. "Sasuke. Sasuke listen to me! Is Kiba alright?"

"Yes, he's fine. We were saved."

"By who?"

"His name is Kitsune." Itachi's eyes widened at this. He had heard of the Kitsune but lately, there wasn't much talk of him or his gang. Itachi assumed something happened, or they were caught but he didn't want his younger brother associated with this guy. He was dangerous.

"Let's just go home Sasuke. Your hands look terrible." With that he led the younger down the road to their mansion.

XxXxXxXx

The next morning saw about thirteen people at their leaders door at nine in the morning. The pink haired girl in a tight pink tank top and black skirt knocked on the door in front of her. The wait wasn't long as the door slowly creaked open to reveal...

Itachi. But this wasn't a normal Itachi, it was a groggy, just woken up Itachi which could be more vicious then a mother bear separated from her cubs. He obviously hadn't had his daily amount of strait black coffee if his half glare, half asleep expression was anything to go by. Everyone cautiously took a step back.

"Uh, we came by to see Sasuke." Sakura explained nervously. They were all good friends with Itachi after practically living at his house for so long but a just-woken-up-Itachi was a dangerous Itachi, no matter if you were friend or foe.

"He's asleep." The elder groaned out.

... Awkward silence...

"Can we come in?" Tenten asked politely. She was wearing white shorts under a blue T-shirt.

"Ugn." Was their only reply as Itachi walked away, but the door was left open so they took that as a 'yes'. They all shuffled in, making sure to slip their shoes off before walking to the kitchen. Itachi was brooding on a chair, coffee mug in hand and staring at the daily newspaper.

"So, when do you think sleeping beauty will wake up."

"KIBA! You're so rude!" Ino cried as she slapped the boy upside the head.

"I'm rude! Don't you mean _you're _rude! At least I don't hit people for no reason."

"I do not hit people for no reason! I mean, how can I not have a reason. You're Kiba!"

"What's that suppose to mean!" The dog like boy demanded, teeth bared.

"What do you think, idiot!" Ino screeched.

"Stop fighting." Kiba was pulled back by the collar. He turned to verbally and possibly physically attack his assailant when he came face to face with Shino and backed down. Frankly, the guy kinda scared Kiba with his silent ways. The guy rarely talks.

"Where's the coffee?" A voice demanded as it came nearer. "And where's mom and dad?" Everyone turned to see a certain black haired teen descending the stairs, not even sending a second glance at them as if their being there was a normal occurrence, which it was.

"The coffee's in the pot like usual and mom and dad are most likely asleep. Check your calender, it's the damn weekend. Oh, and next time your friends are coming over don't expect me to get up to let them in again." The eldest teen hissed from behind his newspaper. Sasuke knew he wasn't reading it, he just liked to hold it up and pretend he was so he could sleep and no one would bother him.

After grabbing his coffee, Sasuke plopped down beside his brother and looked at his friends who were lounging in chairs, armrests and tables. "So, why are you here, not that I don't want you here at-" he glanced at the clock "9:10 in the morning?"

Gaara was the first to speak up. "Were here to talk about what happened last night."

"And the rest of us got a quick update on what happened but we'd like to get the full story." Temari said, regretting she couldn't go last night. Gaara had told her and Kankuro what happened but he'd been to in shock to go into all the details. Now, a day later, they'd be calmer and mostly over it. Her eyes glanced to Kiba who she found out had been shot at. He looked fine, smiling, joking, arguing but she knew it was all a cover. No one could have gotten over something that traumatic so quickly. Sure, people got shot at all the time in the poorer part of Konoha but when it happens to you for the first time it's something you never forget. But, she guessed, if this was his way of getting over it she'd have to respect that.

"Well, we went to Namaki's for dinner." Neji started. "We found out the new kid works there. He was out server."

Shikamaru decided to take it from there. "He told us later on that there was a gang outside and warned us not to go. We left anyways and found them in an ally not too far off."

"They started talking trash to us and we weren't about to just take it!" Ino hissed, her blue eyes raging. "Then we got pissed and asked if they wanted to fight. We pulled out our knives... they pulled out guns."

"The gun was aimed at Kiba because apparently he 'annoyed' them." Gaara continued quietly.

Hinata was next to speak when she realized Gaara was done. "It qu-quickly turn-turned to S-Sasuke be-because he-he was the le-leader."

Said leader took up from there. "They said we'd all die eventually and turned it back to Kiba. He shot without a second thought."

"I-I thought I was going to die. I heard the gun shoot but nothing hit me. For a second I thought they missed until I open my eyes and saw I was saved by a person in black. They had a creepy mask on, kinda resembling a fox with a painted sign bordering it. The other gang got scared because he's Kitsune, a dangerous gang leader I think." Kiba said unusually quiet. He wouldn't meet anyones eyes as he spoke.

"After that he told us to go home and we were quick to follow his orders." Choji finished.

"You poor guys! I wish I was there!" Sakura cried out.

"You said Kitsune, correct?" Itachi quietly cut in. Everyone turned to look at their elder.

"Yea."

"I want you guys to stay away from that man. He's dangerous and in the end he only thinks of himself. He's killed many without a second thought and won't fail to kill you if you too annoy him. I'm warning you guys, if you get mixed up with this guy it will only turn out badly. If I hear any of you is in contact with him or trying to find him your parents will be alerted to this and you won't be allowed out for months." Itachi threatened before gracefully and abruptly getting up and leaving.

"Well, you know what we all need? Latee's from Trenta!" Tenten cheered.

"What! I thought that place closed down. It's so bad it should be shut down!" Kiba whined, not wanting to return.

"Actually, it's the only coffee shop left in Konoha that doesn't serve you cold coffee. Get with the times mutt!" Ino yelled.

"Ugg"

XxXxXxXx

Itachi slowly walked down the hall to his room, pausing at the door to look into the dimly lit area. Slowly, his finger flicked a switch upwards, causing the bulb in his room to light up, so bright he had to shield his eyes for a second. He slowly walked in and over to his desk.

Books upon book and papers upon papers were stacking in neat piles but the desk was full. He let his eyelids slide close in what could be exhaustion or weariness. Memories of the past flashed through his head. In a sudden burst of anger, strength, despair and rage jumbled into one emotion he swiped his hands downwards and shoved all his items off his table onto the floor. Some papers slowly drifted to the floor all around his room, swinging side to side as doing so.

He slowly open dull red eyes to look at a shelf just above his desk. On it was a few memorable items, a family picture and the such. Carfully, he reached up and pulled a frame down. Inside the frame was a worn picture of two friends in their teens. One was of him, looking just how Sasuke does now and the other was of a redhead. He had shaggy hair that spiked up in some placed and bright red eyes. His skin was a carmel tan that went well with his smiling white teeth. He was slightly shorter then Itachi himself and the two were dressed in bathing suits, about to jump into Itachi's pool.

Cradling the picture of a happy time, Itachi rubbed circles on the clear glass that separated the paper picture and the outside world. How he missed this person, this person he held dear to his heart. He hadn't seen the boy in nearly five year. The las time he saw him they were both sixteen.

Itachi made a vow to never get involved with Kitsune, who was the killer of his best friend.

XxXxXxXx

Head in hands and elbows on knees. That was how Naruto sat since he got home late last night. He hadn't changed as his mind had been whirling with thoughts and blank at the same time. His hands were shaking when he arrived home but eventually it went away. It was currently nine in the morning and he hadn't slept at all, with work at ten.

"What have I done?" He hissed to himself. "Why. I was suppose to be gone. I don't need to be hunted down while I'm here! I'm finally getting close. Finally have a lead and now this happens. I may have ruined my one chance, my only chance... Why? Dammit! I can't believe how stupid I was... But I did save someone's life. I couldn't let him die. I couldn't... Why the fuck am I sitting here mopping! I need to get up and back on track. Regret doesn't help anything. Just keep moving forward. Always forward."

With that, Naruto stood up ready to face the day and any mistake he had made the night before. He took a shower, got some coffee and dressed for work. On the way there, he couldn't help but think what his new boss would say to him for leaving early last night. "He'll probably tell me to shut up and get back to work before going back to his hobby: drooling over girls." A smile graced Naruto's face at his bosses weird ways.

_Always forward. Never back_

XxXxXxXx

Well, thanks for reading and I appreciate reviews. They help with my confidence and boost my writing spirit. I accept criticism and compliments. Anything really. Also, if anyone out there would like to help me Beta I'd be deeply grateful. I've done it myself ever since I've been here but it's hard to beta your own work. I find myself not always seeing the mistakes because I expect something I meant to write but accidently didn't. So, if anyone wouldn't be to bothered to Beta for me I'd be very grateful. Just send me a private message. Well, once again thanks for reading and I hope you come back again to read the next chapter.


	6. The Prankster and The Pinky

Hey guys. I'm sorry this took so looooong to post! I'm really falling behind but since school has started again I'm more on track and hopefully will be updating a lot more often! During the summer I just find myself with so much more things to do and during school I don't really get the chance to go out after school so after homework I can work on the chappies! Anyways, about one of the reviews...

**Danny-Buoy: **_I'm sorry if I offended you in any way and after going back over it I realized it was in fact pretty bad to be saying. But, I was only saying that because that's the way I feel about the subject sometimes. I guess I just ranted too much and I will most likely be going back over it and getting rid of some of it. Honestly, one of my friends is anorexic and I find my other friend when hanging out with the anorexic one trying not to eat. She is very jealous of my anorexic friend and always tries to literally starve herself when hanging out. She thinks the way she's so skinny is a good thing and when I wrote that I was mad at her because she made the anorexic friend cry when she said some cruel things. She literally eats lunch then goes to the bathrooms and makes herself puke and she is only doing it out of jealousy because she's not stick thin and it's so unhealthy! I can't say about others but I hate it when she does it and I guess I get angry at her because she doesn't realize how terrible it is to actually have the disease. So once again I am sorry if that was offending in any way and thanks for the advice._

Anyways, everyone else thank you so much for the reviews and I find them making me want to write more and more because you guys are enjoying the story. Anyways, this chapter isn't as exciting as the previous one but it's important. Soon the story will really start kicking off and some of your questions will be answered. I hope you enjoy! :)

**Summary:**He wasn't one of them. He knew the truths of the world. He had lived this life before and somehow, he had escaped. He'd be damned if he once again got sucked into it. There was to much pain from the last time he chose that road, but, could he really let them go when they were inexperienced? They'd die before they got a chance to even shoot for the stars. And dammit, they weren't backing down now.

**Warning: **This is Sasunaru so it will be boyxboy, in later chapters at least! Don't like don't read!

**Pairings: **Well, definitely Sasunaru, most likely Neji/Gaara. Possible Lee/Sakura, Kiba/Hinata, Shikamaru/Temari, Ino/Choji. I'm not sure though.. Any suggestions?

**Disclaimers: **I do not own Naruto nor will I ever :(

The Prankster And The Pinky

_-Kiba- _

My life, so far, has been pretty average. Sure, I got into the normal fight here and there, after all, I was the one with a temper, but thats besides the point. What I'm trying to say is I haven't seen much gory, bloody violence, if you don't count horror movies that is. I get pretty bad grades in school, and no, it is not at all my fault. If they gave us a test that didn't need to be studied for, I'd ace it. But these teachers never learn it seems. They always ignore the great advice I give them.

Then there's my family. I live with my mom, and sister in our house next to the dog shelter. Our cousins and Uncles and Aunts have houses nearby as they help run the dog shelter (it's more work then you'd think) but my moms the head of it. My sister, Hana, is the most annoying person in the entire universe, besides Ino that is... Well, maybe they're the same. Anyways, she's always telling my what to do and giving out to me for not doing my chores. I already have a mother who does those things better then needed, I don't need my sister pretending to be my mother as well. I've never met my father. He died before I was born. Even Hana can barely remember him. My mom's fine without him thought, actually, in my opinion, she's doing better then fine. She's a mother and father in one. It's scary.

Like I said, we live right next to our animal shelter... well, it's really just a dog shelter, but I don't think there's a name for those. We have more then sixty kennels and thankfully, dogs are being bought quite often, unfortunately, they're being abandoned quite often too. I like helping take care of the dogs, it's fun. But when it's my turn to clean the stalls, I once again hate it.

When I turned five, my mother gave me my very own puppy, bred from her own super awesome dog. He's white with brown patches on his ears. I really like him, and how couldn't I? He was my very first dog. Although, he was growing super slow so everyone made fun of him. But I've noticed of lately he's started to grow more. He won't fit in my backpack anymore (which is smaller then normal ones because I don't believe in taking every book to class..) but I'm kinda happy he's growing so slow. I like hiding him in my jacket. If he gets big I won't be able to do that anymore.

My first friend was Shino. He was the quiet tall kid who was obsessed with bugs and was weird. After that, we became friends with Shikamaru and Choji. I remember always arguing with Sakura and Ino because they were girls and had the cuties. Sasuke was loved by all and I was jealous of him. He was always right, or so said the teachers. I never really liked him and we fought a lot.

Then, in middle school. I walked up to him and Neji. I had gotten over my jealousy over time and decided maybe we could be friends. It turns out he's not so much of a prick as I previously thought (I said as much, not he isn't one at all cause we all know _that _would be a lie). I started to hang out with him more and so did others. By the end of the last year, I got even Shino to join or big group/gang. We were the best in the area.

As of recently, I realized how much of an understatement that was. We are most definitely not the best in town. We didn't realize we were lacking in weapons. I guess we just thought we'd be fine using just knifes, no need to go for the big guns, but apparently, the big guns was just what we needed.

I'm grateful to what that masked guy did that night, no matter what Itachi says about staying away from him. I want to know who he is and why he did that. Was he just the good Samaritan, or as vial and evil as Itachi seems to think. Whatever he is, I am in his dept. He saved my life. I could have died. And the shock has yet to wear off.

Right now I'm in this gang and I'm not about to leave it. Even if I already nearly died I still want to fight for it. I want to get stronger like that other gang, like our saviour. I will follow Sasuke where ever he decides to lead us, good or bad. If he wants to get stronger, get more weapons, I'm with him.

All I really know at this point is that if Sasuke wants to go father, I'll be the first to agree.

XxXxXxXx _-Normal- _

The weekend went by pretty fast with the gang hanging out. They all camped out at Sasukes house, not that his parents minded. His mom was delighted to cook for so many 'young, vibrant kids' and his father was relaxed and enjoying the chatter. Itachi was of course grumpy, but he laughed along with the younger adolescence's, teasing Sasuke all the while. On Sunday they all went to the amusement park, jumping on all the wild, thrilling rides and later went to the water slides for some aqua fun. Unfortunately, their weekend ended at that and school was the next day so everyone headed home.

"Haha! I loved the Grizzle Bear, what was your favorite ride Sasuke?" Sakura asked with a kind smile. She was walking next to Ino and Hinata in the front of their group with Sasuke and Kiba behind them and Neji and Choji at the rear of the group.

"Ugg, the Demon. Now let me sleep."

"Uh... Sasuke. It's morning, were walking to school and you're about to hit a pole." That woke Sasuke up for sure as he expertly dodged the huge telephone pole. A barking laugh left Kiba's lips as he slapped Sasuke on the back, his victim grumbling all the while.

"You were just waiting for him to hit that pole, weren't you?" Ino questioned with a glare set on her pale features as she turned around to walk backwards.

"Wha-NO! I wasn't... What are you guys talking about... ha... ha..." Kiba yelled weakly, his grin slipping off his face.

"Sure you weren't! It's not like you gain amusement from other people's pain!" Neji said sarcastically, if that was even possible, his pupil-less eyes rolling towards heaven.

"No! Not any other persons pain. Just my friends... and maybe a strangers or a person I don't like's pain!"

"Geez, that sure made you seem like a good person." Sakura rolled her green eyes.

"Grr! Shut up!"

"What, can't take the truth Kiba?" Ino taunted, Hinata pulling her out of the way of a mailbox she couldn't see, not that she even noticed what the blue haired girl had done for her, she was too busy watching Kiba get frustrated. It was quite funny to see the boy trying not to explode.

"Hey! I can so take-"

"Guys! Hey! Look!" Choji interrupted, pointing somewhere behind them. Everyone turned. Racing down the road was none other then a black motorcycle. But not a regular motorcycle, no, this was a black Ducati Street Racer, racing towards them. Before they could even comprehend what was happening, it already sped past them, going so fast they barely got a chance to look at it.

"That... was soooooo cool!" Kiba cheered, staring in awe after the bike. Sasuke, Choji and Neji in the same trance-like state.

"Boys and their toys." Ino sighed.

"T-true that!" Hinata giggled.

"Anyways, come on you love sick girls, lets get to school before were late." Sakura ordered, dragging them towards the school. They made it to school within five minutes, the fours boys in depression from Bike-withdrawls. Thats when they saw it, parked in the car park and surrounded by students admiring it, none other then the bike from earlier.

"No way!" Neji whispered, hearts in his eyes. Before you could even blink, the boys were over there, and the rest of the school who were previously looking at it were long gone, afraid of the Chidori's wrath if they got in the way. They literally just stood there, not daring to touch it for fear of scratching it. It was all black with orange in some places such as the seat.

"Come on you love stricken idiots! Keep moving! Class will be starting any minute." Sakura hounded, looking ready to strike them if they did not obey her wishes.

"I don't give two craps about class. I wanna stay here!" Sasuke announced as he saw nothing but the bike, he especially missed all the looks of absolute horror and fear at his announcement. Even the other boys who were previously oblivious to everything but the bike were staring at him in disbelief.

"I think he's finally lost it!" Kiba hissed, looking very scared.

"Maybe we should bring him to the mental hospital." Ino agreed, looking equally crept out.

It was then that Sasuke did something that mentally scarred them all. He sang. "I love you, you love me! Were a HAPPY family! Wish a GREAT big kiss and a HUG from you to me! WON'T you say you LOVE me too! I love you Bikey!" His friends nearly sprinted out of there with fear for their lives as they huddled in a group as far away from the Uchiha as possible. Also the fact that the boy just couldn't sing had them covering their ears in pain from the awful melody. The birds were already long gone.

But that wasn't the worst of their mental torture. He found a new song he liked. "I want to be like other BOYS! Ride on a bike like other boys can! Just to be free like other boys get to beeeeee! To ride in the wind, to drive really fast, race someone I met, Who just doesn't give a crap. No walking, no running, no buses, no bikes, no rushing to school, like a crazy bully! No going slow. I want to be like other boys! Ride on a bike like other boys can. Just to be free like other boys get to beeeeee!"

Alarmingly enough, it looked like the boy was about to continue when an unamused and very unimpressed voice stopped him - All his friends thanking the Gods for this, of course - "Yeah. Well I want you to get the hell away from my bike so I can go to class without worrying a crazy manic is going to steal it... or sing about it."

Standing one level above the gang themselves was none other then the blond new kid. He was leaning out of a window, looking dangerously close to teetering off the edge. And although he had said that in an unamused tone, he did look like he was getting some kicks outta this, especially Sasuke's song.

"This... This is _yours!" _Kiba hissed, not believing it.

Naruto raised a skeptical eyebrow at him, as if not believing his stupidity. "No, I'm just standing up here telling you to get away from it cause a guy is paying me to guard it like I'm his fucking dog." He leaned even farther out, his body tilting nearly over the edge before he went in the opposite direction, not even noticing his possibly fatal fall.

Kiba growled. "Shut up! I'm not brainless!"

"And where did _you _get a bike like _this!" _Neji demanded, he not believing it for a second as well as he doubted the fact that the kid could even ride it.

"Well, Eyeballs, I bought it like ever other person would have." Neji's pupil-less eye twitched. "Well, I better head off. Don't want Kakashi to get made at me, ya'know. Although, when he find out just what you've been up to, I think it might be a whole other story." With that, the boy disappeared from sight.

"What do you think he meant by that?" Choji asked nervously.

"I-I think w-we m-might want t-to r-run!" Hinata stuttered quietly. Everyone shared a glance before simultaneously breaking into a sprint as if the same thought crossed each of their minds. 'This will not turn out well!'

XxXxXxXx

Turns out the blond didn't say a thing to the teacher, even though he did grin mischiviously when the people in his class entered their home room, although the teacher wasn't happy about them being late... As if! This is Kakashi were talking about. He wasn't even there himself!

They easily slipped into their seats when the blond did the opposite. He got up. He went over to the little sink in the kitchen and filled up a bucket - where did he even get a bucket? - and carried it over to the door sloppily, tipping side to side to try and make sure it didn't spill. He stopped at the door and placed the bucket down carefully. Then, like only a true master could, he judged how far away the door would need to be - exactly - and grabbed a nearby chair, stood on it bucket in hand and placed it perfectly on the door. The bucket didn't even wobbly in the slightest. Grinning, he happily returned to his seat.

Everyone watched the cheerful blond carefully. When he first arrived, he seemed like a happy kid and a good student, if only a little rebellious. They started to form an idea of why he was transfered to their school - he was probably kicked out of his old one for pranks. But none of them did anything to stop his little prank. Honestly, with the way Kakashi acted, all smart and quick and with super good reflexes, they highly doubted he'd fall for it. Now all that was left was to wait.

XxXxXxXx

Class 1B was a loud class, no doubt. There were a few reasons for this you see. One was that a certain Uchiha was in this class who was also a gang leader. He obviously caused quite a commotion as every girl wanted to date him, not that he minded except for the way they crowded him. So, many high pitched squeals came from the class.

The next reason was the fact that their teacher, Kakashi-sensei was never on time. Never. So there was no one to control the class until he came in which was always very late. So, this tented to make them so loud the whole school could hear them.

The last reason, well, they were a bunch of teenagers with no worries and why wouldn't they be loud? Obviously, between joking and fighting, the noise levels got beyond controllable. This is why when the door to their room opened and someone who _wasn't _Kakashi-sensei walked in, everyone went quiet. Also was the fact that the bucket on top didn't even teeter, it fell with precise aim, landing right on their evil teachers head, drenching him though.

The silence was eerie as slowly, very slowly Orochimaru pushed the pail up off his head, revealing his furious look. Honestly, Naruto would be lying if he said he didn't pale, even if it was only slightly.. Without saying a word the teacher walked into the middle of the room, clothes dripping.

"Now, I'm going to ask once and only once, who put the bucket up there." There was a dangerous vibe laced in his words that promised pain if he didn't get an answer. But no one answered. None were willing to rat the blond out to the teacher who they feared would physically hurt him. They were all too scared.

"No ones answering, I see. Maybe I should just choose one of you and punish he or she for one of their classmates idiotic moves and cowardliness. Or maybe I should punish the whole class for no one telling me who exactly did this. It has to be someone in this room or they would have gotten wet when they opened the door to leave and the bucket would no longer be there..." He began to pace. "Still no one talking. Okay, the whole class will receive detention and a whack of the ruler."

Sakura raised her hand to everyones surprise.

"Was it you, pinky?"

"No, but Tsunade says it's forbidden to physically hurt a student!" She blurted out quickly before looking down, avoiding eye contact. Slowly, only to make the girl squirm, Orochimaru walked over to her desk before planting his hands on it and leaning down to her, a leering smile across his face.

"I don't care what that stupid principle says, I say you deserve pain and I will give it to you. I am, after all, a teacher, therefore I can do as I please. Starting with you, pinky." He grabbed her wrist and went to pull her up but a voice stopped him.

"Her names not Pinky, it's Sakura. And you won't need to punish any of them. I'm the one who put the bucket above the door." Orochimaru's yellow eyes instantly snapped to the person who spoke and wasn't surprised when he saw the new blond kid was the one who had spoken. Although he couldn't help a small spark of sadistic glee spread though his body. He had hated the kid since the very first day he met him and was just waiting for the blond to screw up so he could punish him.

"Ah, the new kid. Naruto was your name, correct."

"Maybe, but it's not like you care. You're just a snake bastard who loves seeing others in pain because you're lonely and crazy and fucking insane!" The blond hissed after standing up, fists clenched so tight they were almost white in anger. The man rushed down the steps with surprising speed and grabbed the boy by the collar with little resistance.

"I dare you to say that again you little asshole." The man growled. Naruto looked up at him with no fear at all. Honestly, if he didn't have the sense that if he attacked the teacher he'd be suspended and would have to leave for fear of being caught by the cops or someone of the like, the man before him would be lying on the floor, half dead. But he had to promise himself no matter what, he wouldn't attack back.

"Why, you deaf, you old bastard, or maybe you're just that stupid." There was no pause as a loud smacking sound rang out through the classroom and all the students stared in shock at the boy who's face was turned to the side, his cheek a bright red from the harsh slap. Slowly, his face turned back around and he spit at the man, blood hitting Orochimaru's face as the boy grinned. Enraged yellow eyes glowered at the boy as something inside their teacher snapped and all the students in the room knew something had changed in the cruel man, something that would most definitely not be good for the blond. He grabbed the object of his hatred by his wrist and began dragging him out of the classroom, his grip on the boys wrist leaving red handprints that would soon turn to bruises. Just as they were about to exit the room, Kakashi walked in, his surprised eye looking from an angry Orochimaru to the glowering blond in his hold. He noticed with surprise the red mark on the boys cheek and grew slightly angry himself.

"Hello Orochimaru. May I ask where exactly you're taking my student?" The voice was cheerful and his eye was curved up in a smile but his fellow teacher could see the dangerous glint in the eye as if he were warning Orochimaru not to try anything or else.

"He seems to enjoy pranking people, Kakashi and I was the victim of this prank so I was just taking him to the principles office." The other man answered, his voice no longer harsh but he was walking on glass and everyone knew it.

"Ah, I see. Well, I'm fully capable of escorting him there. You should probably get back to your own class. And Naruto, you will serve detention with me after school today." Kakashi smiled again as he addressed the blond in question. In the back of his mind, Naruto realized Kakashi was saving him.

"Would it not be better if he served detention with me, as I'm the one who fell victim to his prank." Orochimaru tried to hide his anger but was failing.

"Maybe you should have seen it coming. He is only a fourteen year old, correct. How could he fool you? And I am perfectly capable of watching him in detention. I will see you later then." With a growl Orochimaru released his hold on the blond who instantly pulled his injured wrist to his chest and Kakashi placed an arm around the boys shoulder, guiding him to his side as if to protect him from the other teacher. With a huff, the raven haired teacher left.

Once he was gone and the door was shut, Kakashi took a look around his room for any other wounded students who were targets to Orochimaru's sinful ways. Finding none, he turned his concern back to the relatively new blond who wasn't meeting anyone eyes. "Well Naruto, would you like to go to the nurses office. That cheek looks pretty painful?"

"I'll escort him there, sensei!" Sakura called before the boy could answer as she stood up from her seat. She smiled at her teacher before guiding the blond to the door, her own arm taking Kakashi's place.

"Oh and Naruto." The two turned towards their teacher. "You're free from detention. Try to refrain from getting on Orochimaru's bad side again."

"Arigato Sensei!" Was the soft thanks and Kakashi knew it wasn't just because he allowed the boy to skip detention. With that the duo left for the nurses office. The walk there was a quiet one until Sakura broke it.

"That was a brave thing you did back there." She smiled at him, her emerald green eyes shining.

"I wish it was but really, I had to own up to my own prank. Anyways, compared to the things I've done before, I wouldn't call that brave." He laughed sadly and his smile wasn't to it's normal brightness, not that Sakura was that great of friends with him to really know his smiles.

She looked down at the downcast boy, wondering where the bubbly blond from before had gone. As if weighing out her chances for a true answer, she asked somewhat reluctantly, "Why didn't you fight back when he slapped you?"

Dark blue eyes looked up at her and she nearly gasped at how his normally sky blue eyes were now ocean blue. "I can't get kicked out. I have something really important to do here and I can't have a reason for the principle to suspend me." He admitted, knowing she wouldn't ever understand what the 'thing' was he had to do here but it felt nice to finally tell someone.

"You sound like when you get whatever this thing is done, you're going to leave." A small, not convincing chuckle left the pink haired girls lips. When she got no response she felt a slight pull at her chest when she realized these were in fact his intentions but she didn't know why it hurt. They weren't friends. They never really talked before this so why did she feel sad at the thought that the blond might be leaving soon? She certainly wasn't in love with him, that was for sure.

"It's funny really. When you say it like that, it makes me feel guilty and I barely know you, ya'know." Sakura couldn't help a real laugh come out when he said that.

"Took the word right out of my mouth. And I don't even know why I feel sad." Naruto let a little laugh leave him as well. It felt kinda nice, becoming friend with Sakura. They were at ease and even though they were slightly remorse at the incident earlier, they still managed to smile and laugh.

Before they knew it they were at the infirmary and Sakura knocked on the door only to have it opened by Shizune, who was also the secretary. She looked at them for a moment, trying to figure out what was wrong when she saw the boys red cheek and how he held his wrist.

"Come in, come in!" She ushered and sat Naruto down on one of the beds with Sakura claimed the chair next to it, unwilling to leave until she was sure her friend was okay. "Now, what happened?"

"I got into a fight with some guy. It's not that bad, really." A big smile was plastered on his face but his eyes showed that he was in pain. Shizune hushed him and told him to wait right there. A minute later she returned with some bandages, a wet towel and some ice. She began to clean his cheek seeing as it was bleeding slightly in one part. She was surprised when she noticed something was coming off onto the towel and paused in her cleaning. Looking down at the towel she saw what looked like... Cover up?

"Naruto-chan?" Naruto blushed slightly at the nickname and she noticed it was more prominent on the cheek that she had been cleaning. "Are you wearing make-up?" It seemed like the boy froze, his body tensed and his eyes grew slightly wider before he calmed down and he looked normal again. It was so fast Shizune wasn't even sure she saw it. How did the boy change his emotions so quickly? Well, more likely hide his emotions so fast.

"Yea. Haha. Um. I had a bruise on one of my cheeks and didn't want to draw unnecessary attention to it so I put some on and it looked weird unless I put it on both cheeks." He smiled again. Shizune didn't believe him for a second and by the looks of it neither did Sakura but she ignored his lie in favor of continuing to clean his cheek. "Uh!" He interrupted her. "I think it's okay now. Just a little sore."

Shizune stared at him and he didn't look nervous but she could tell he was trying to cover something up. She examined his cheek and saw something that made her heart stop beating. Faintly, behind the makeup she could make out three faint lines. 'Whisker marks.' Her mind supplies instantly. 'Could it be?' But she decided now wasn't the time to try and figure that out.

"Would you like me to get a bandage for it?" She smiled, covering her surprise up.

"Yes please."

"Okay, let me wrap your wrist up and then I'll grab one." She gentle took his wrist and wrapped it, every so often looking up at him to make sure she wasn't hurting him and to make sure she didn't imagine the marks on his cheek. Finally, she finished and he was wrapped up to the base of his thumb for support, the wrist probably couldn't be used for a few days. She handed him the ice before getting up to grab the band-aid. She opened the box, only to find it empty.

"It seems I have run out but I have some in my office. I'll go grab them. I'll only be a second. Would you like some pain-killers Naruto-chan?" She questioned cheerfully.

"Uh, that would be helpful. Thanks."

"Okay. Be right back."

She left to go get the band-aid and silence rang through the room. It wasn't exactly uncomfortable but no one was talking so neither of the two were at ease. FInally, Sakura once again broke the silence as she looked up to the blond on the bed from her chair.

"I like you Naruto. You're really nice." Sakura let a soft, genuine smile grace her lips and faintly, in the back of his mind, Naruto realized she was beautiful. Her soft pink hair framing her face with emerald green orbs staring back at him. Her plump pink lips beaming to show off white teeth. She was slightly taller then him but that didn't matter. All that mattered was she was smiling at him and only him. And no, he wasn't falling in love with her but it was kinda like the feeling when you realize you're older sister is actually beautiful, despite how much you tease her.

So Naruto did the only thing that was natural to him, he smiled back. And it wasn't one of his face cracking grins, nor was it fake in any way. It was small, just like hers and it was slightly timid but it held purity and honesty and friendship and it made Sakura lose her breath as she stared at him. His smile was so pure and bright and so real, she felt her mood lift and the room get slightly warmer and more friendly. His smile made his eyes return to their sky blue color as they sparkled and his blond hair look that much brighter. It was then that she noticed something on one of his cheeks. Her smile slipped slowly and she drew closer to him. Without her knowing it, she had rose to her feet and was leaning down in front of him with a confused frown on her face. Slowly, she reached up and caressed his cheek, her fingers running over the three scars there. His eyes had closed at the gentle touch he hadn't felt in a long time. It was caring and soft, unlike the normal touches he felt which were harsh and pain filled. It felt nice for the cheek which was previously slapped to be so tenderly stroked. Just like _he _use to.

"Why do you have scars?" The soft voice whispered and he was brought back to the real world. He wasn't six and it wasn't _him _stroking his cheek. His eyes snapped open and he saw Sakura staring back at him in concern, her hand still on his cheek. When he realized why she was touching him, because the scars were visible he flinched away from her hand and his eyes closed once again, wishing to be six again and not where he was right now. But he had to face Sakura sometime.

"They were given to me, when I was very young. I've had them ever since." He found himself telling her even though every other part of him scream to shut up.

"Y-you mean... Someone cut your cheek?" Sakura asked, horrified and Naruto was faintly surprised by how terrified she seemed by the answer she knew was coming.

"Cheeks, actually. As in more then one. I have three on each cheek and yes, someone cut me on my cheeks to leave the scars." He would tell her that, he decided, but no more.

A gasp left her lips as her eyes widened. "Why and who?"

"It doesn't matter anymore."

Sakura paused before asking very softly, "Why do you hide them?"

Naruto's blue eyes looked up at her once again and just like before she was surprised how they were a different blue, sapphire blue. "I have to, or else face the consequences." Just as Sakura looked to be about to ask what the consequences were the door opened and Shizune walked in, a smile on her face.

"I'm back! Now, let me-" She paused at seeing how close the two were and when the two noticed this themselves, Sakura backed off and sat down again. She was surprised she wasn't blushing after being caught in such a compromising position like that, it looked like they had been kissing but she found herself surprisingly calm and when she looked to Naruto, he seemed the same. She guessed neither liked each other like that.

Shizune eyed them for a minute before continuing. "Well, I got the bandage and some painkillers. I'll just get you a glass of water." After doing so she came over to the bed and placed the water on the counter before kneeling down in front of him. She opened the bandage and gently placed it on his cheek, effectively covering up his scars from view. Then, she handed him the two painkillers and he downed them dry.

"Naruto-chan. Next time you take painkillers please take them with water." She chided as she picked up the glass of water and shoving it into his hands. "Now, drink!" Smiling at the demand, he did so, chugging down the water.

"Well, Sakura, when the bell rings you should probably go back to class and Naruto-chan, the pain killers should be making you drowsy so you can stay here and sleep." Shizune said in a cheery voice.

"What! You gave me sleeping pills!" The blond demanded as he noticed his eyelids begin to get heavy.

"No, they were pain killers but you looked tired so I gave you the ones that make you sleepy. You can stay here until you wake up again, so get under the blankets!" The boy was already falling asleep, not even hearing her.

Sakura giggled at him as he began to droop forward, catching him before he could fall off the bed. "Wow, those work fast!"

"Yes. He looked like he needed the extra sleep anyways. Will you help me get him under the covers?" Shizune giggled along at seeing the small blonds eyes close.

"Sure." Together the two managed to get his shoes and jacket off and get him into bed. As Shizune walked off Sakura pulled the covers up over the boy and tucked him in like her mother does to her. She pressed her lips to his forehead and sat back down next to him. The bell was going to ring soon and she felt slightly sad at the thought of having to leave but quenched the feeling by telling herself she'd come back and visit later. When she finally had to leave, she felt more reluctant then she should have.

She had already grown attached to the small blond.

XxXxXxXx

Okay everyone, I hope you enjoyed this chapter and I'm sorry to all you Sakura-haters! I kinda hate her at times but I thought she would be one of Naruto's very first friends and not in love with him, as this is Sasunaru. Anyways, I know the singing bit with Sasuke is very weird but I was bored! It's kinda funny...

The first song is from barney and the second from Mulan II called I Want To Be Like Other. The words match the tune if you go about halfway through to after the second chorus and goes all the way to the next. Anyways, I thought the love for the bike thing was funny.

So anyways, please review! I love to hear your comments and they encourage me to write more!

Thanks for reading!

Coolbluerocker


	7. The Habit

Hey guys! Now, I know this chapter is extremely short and i don't particularly like it but I promise the next chapter will be up soon and will be awesome. It'll be great! So basically this is just preparation for that. I do want at least 3 reviews in order for me to post the next chapter and I know seeing how small this chapter is and how boring it probably will be I would really appreciate those three and hopefully more reviews! Anyways, thanks for reading and I'll work on the next chapter!

**Summary:**He wasn't one of them. He knew the truths of the world. He had lived this life before and somehow, he had escaped. He'd be damned if he once again got sucked into it. There was to much pain from the last time he chose that road, but, could he really let them go when they were inexperienced? They'd die before they got a chance to even shoot for the stars. And dammit, they weren't backing down now.

**Warning: **This is Sasunaru so it will be boyxboy, in later chapters at least! Don't like don't read!

**Pairings: **Well, definitely Sasunaru, most likely Neji/Gaara. Possible Lee/Sakura, Kiba/Hinata, Shikamaru/Temari, Ino/Choji and Itachi/Kyuubi. I'm not sure though.. Any suggestions?

**Disclaimers: **I do not own Naruto nor will I ever :(

The Habit

XxXxXxXx

Sitting on the steps to the school was a small blond. His back was leaning against the rough surface of the wall and his eyes were unfocused, staring up into the blue sky. He faintly heard a bell ring and the sounds of footsteps but he was so oblivious his mind didn't even give the sounds a second thought.

Between his two fingers was something that could get him into serious trouble. It was a cigarette. The tip was a bright red, burning away. Slowly, he lifted the sin stick to his lips and breath in, inhaling the killer smoke of his addiction. He held it for a few seconds, letting all the chemicals calm him before breathing out, the smoke rising up and before you knew it, the wind had stolen it away.

The smoke relaxed him, he decided. The poison that would kill his lungs was what gave him peace when his mind was at war. When he was about to explode from his dangerous thoughts wracking his brain and taking control of his body, it saved him. When he made a mistake and couldn't get away, it freed him. When he was so confused he didn't know what to do, where to turn to and who he could trust, it guided him. Smoking wasn't just his habit, it was his savior. It was the only way he could escape.

But sadly, it burned fast, too fast. It never lasted long enough and he refused to take another one. They were hard to get, him being underage and all.

He had wanted to leave the school, but something made him stay. He really didn't understand it, the feeling inside him. Maybe it was guilt, he had snuck out of the infirmary when Shizune left. Maybe she was worried.

So he just sat there, unmoving, with nothing else to do but wait.

XxXxXxXx

The lunch bell rang, signaling all students were free from their classes for forty minutes. Everyone rushed to the cafeteria, hoping to get something good before only slop was left to eat. The Chidori gang were first in line, of course, all students moving out of their way. If the teachers cared, they said nothing.

Sakura was going to visit Naruto after she ate but Shizune had left a note on the door saying for no one to enter unless they were actually injured. It was kind of weird for the normally kind women to deny someone entry to visit an injured friend, but thats what she was doing.

The group sat at their big table, all with trays full of food. Chatter was immediate and friendly, many conversations going on at once. Some people were even in two conversations at once while others just sat there listening to what their friends had to say. But when Kiba began to speak, he had everyones attention.

"I want to find Kitsune. I want to find out who he is exactly and I want to find out why he saved us." Everyone was looking at the dog-like boy but he had his head bowed so no one could see his conflicting emotions.

"What do you expect us to do Kiba. Go around town asking anyone and everyone if they're Kitsune? Really Kiba, are you that stupid!" Neji asked, his voice slightly harsh but he was just trying to get everyone to see the realistic side of things.

"Well, we most definitely can't do that, but I can't help but agree with Kiba, I'm curious about this Kitsune too." Temari admitted, her voice soft but sure.

"I'm sure were all curious about Kitsune, he did save us after all but how would we go about this? How could we find him again?" Tenten asked, looking around for any better suggestions.

"Well, we could narrow it down and look for suspicious people with blond hair and that are short. I mean seriously, there aren't many men that short. It wouldn't be that hard." Choji mumbled, pausing in his munching to speak.

"But maybe they don't come out often, or what if they're doing some underground shit?" Kankuro said, pointing out a possibility no one wanted to consider. They had to find their hero.

"Well, we won't know until we try. I say we give it a shot. Of course, we still need a better idea then looking around town. This isn't exactly a small village." Sasuke said, putting his two cent in as leader. Sure, his brother had told him to stay away from Kitsune but when did he ever listen to his brother anyways? Their advice was always about safety and stupid stuff like that. Who needs safety.

"There aren't many options for us." Shino said in a low voice and Hinata and Lee who were next to him jumped when he suddenly spoke. The boy was so quiet when he decided to voice his thoughts it made nearly everyone jump.

"I guess it's my turn to talk." Shikamaru mumbled, looking like he'd rather be anywhere other then there.

XxXxXxXx

The blond, tired of sitting and doing nothing decided to walk around and see who was out. The walk from the front of the school to the lunch area which was near the back was a long one, especially because he was going all the way around the school to get there from the outside. The gardens of the school were quite amazing though with varies flowers and plants that were well tended to.

When he finally got there he realized it was in fact lunch with all the students scattered around the tables and grass area. His eyes found a certain table that a certain gang was at, talking in quieter then normal voices and looking very secretive. His eyes caught on a red head at the table with the symbol of love on his forehead and silently he wondered why the boy was ignoring him. But, he realized, if the boy was ignoring him he would have at least showed some recognition when he saw him but instead, there was nothing. It was like Gaara had never even met him, but he had. They had been though so much together. He didn't even know what he could have done to make the older boy angry with him. They use to be so close, what had changed.

But it wasn't just the red head who looked like they didn't even know him. The girl with the four ponytails and the boy with the makeup didn't recognize him either. He had been close to both Temari and Kankuro as well, so close they were like an older brother and sister to him as well. So why did all of them not even look at him twice. He hadn't changed that much. They should have known him.

He had tried to ignore it earlier, thinking maybe they wanted to keep their reputation or something but after a couple days he realized it was more then that. It had to be. They would have said _something. _Heck, he would have preferred they yell at him rather then just not even notice him. It was weird.

He suspected many thing. They could have been attacked by a gang. Separated and alone they would be defenseless if they were outnumbered, and also the fact that neither Temari or Kankuro could previously fight, although by the looks of it, that had changed.

He missed Gaara, more then he would have liked to admit. When Gaara was with him, he wasn't so alone. And even when he coudn't tell the other boy what was wrong, he didn't need to because the redhead understood and took him how he got him. The redhead was his protecter. His protecter from himself and now, that protecter didn't even know who he was.

Hows that for an unjust world.

XxXxXxXx

Thirteen eyes, all of different colors were focused on him and the only thought in his mind was, 'how troublesome'. They seemed to comprehend what he was saying but some seemed a little unsure of the idea. It was smart, no doubt but it was dangerous. There were some big consequences involved if it failed but if it succeeded then they'd have themselves a Kitsune to question.

But, did the advantages weigh out consequences?

The answer to that might hold the key to one's life and death.

XxXxXxXx

Thanks for reading and please review. As I said before the next chapter WILL be better! Anyways. See ya!

Coolbluerocker


	8. Kaboom

IMPORTANT! : Okay, when I first uploaded this story it was NOT in one huge paragraph and in my file it's not in one big paragraph so I don't know what happened! I ended up copying and pasting it now so I hope it turns out right! The spaces between paragraphs is kinda bigger then normal but its better then that one huge paragraph I saw earlier. I apologize, I don't know what happened but when I tried uploading it again the same thing happened so yea, gotta love copy and paste. Sorry again, hope this time it turns out correctly!

Hey guys! This is obviously the new chapter! I worked EXTREMELY hard on this chapter and made it longer! Very much longer! Soo... yeah. I also put action into it! And a little insight on Naru-chans life! So I hope you really like this chapter. I'm kinda disappointed with the reviews cause I learned how to see how many hits and views I got and also got a good few favorite stories alerts but not many are reviewing. Also I got Story alerts... whatever those are... Anyways, when you review I get the drive to make me write the next chappie faster! Anyways, I hope you like this chapter, I liked writing it.

Also, normally I reply to reviews but I haven't done that in a while and they were building up sooo... **Thank you all for reviewing. I really appreciate your support and am glad you like my story. I say thanks to those who tell me my mistakes and I am thankful you do so in a kind way. I am answering a few questions though...**

**Q: Is the sand siblings reason for not recognizing Naruto because they can't see the whisker marks or something?**

_A: This chapter kind of explains that from Naruto's point of view but the next chapter will explain it better._

**Q (well, not really a question but a suggestion): Maybe Naru can go see Gaara or Gaara can see him smoking.**

_A: Thanks for the idea an stuff but I have this really good (in my opinion) idea of how Gaara will find out and it will be coming up soon within the next at the latest four chapters._

Thats all the questions but I wanted to add some things. In the next chapter I might put up a little thing about what the different eye colors mean for Naruto. If you can figure some of them out I'll give you a imaginary cookie! Anyways, back on topic...

I wanted to give a list of the ages cause I never really did that... Here you go.

Naruto- 14

Kiba-14

Ino-14

Sasuke- 15

Hinata- 15

Tenten- 15

Lee- 15

Gaara- 15

Shino- 15

Shikamaru- 15

Sakura- 15

Neji- 16

Temari- 16

Kankuro- 16

Oh, also I know I kinda made a mistake saying they're all in the same grade so use your imaginations and now the older ones are also with the younger... Fine! Neji, Tenten, Lee, Temari, and Kankuro should all be in a different grade so I'll help you out a bit. Lets say you can leave middle school in either 7th or 8th grade or you could think of something yourself. Sorry for that mistake. I might edit the chapter where it says that later... much later. Anyways... Itachi and his friends ages will come in when they're more present in the chapters.

Anyways. Now onwards... to the story!

**Summary:**He wasn't one of them. He knew the truths of the world. He had lived this life before and somehow, he had escaped. He'd be damned if he once again got sucked into it. There was to much pain from the last time he chose that road, but, could he really let them go when they were inexperienced? They'd die before they got a chance to even shoot for the stars. And dammit, they weren't backing down now.

**Warning: **This is Sasunaru so it will be boyxboy, in later chapters at least! Don't like don't read! Also swear words and mentions of killing!

**Pairings: **Well, definitely Sasunaru, most likely Neji/Gaara. Possible Lee/Sakura, Kiba/Hinata, Shikamaru/Temari, Ino/Choji and Itachi/Kyuubi. I'm not sure though.. Any suggestions?

**Disclaimers: **I do not own Naruto nor will I ever :( Nor do I own the song You're gonna go far kid.

Kaboom

_Now dance, fucker dance! Man, he never had a chance! _

_And no one even knew,_

_it was really only you._

_And now you steal away,_

_Take him out today._

_Nice work you did, you're gonna go far kid!_

_With a thousand lies, and a good disguise,_

_hit 'em right between the eyes,_

_hit 'em right between the eyes._

_When you walk away, nothing more to say,_

_see the lightning in you eyes,_

_see 'em running for their lives._

_- You're Gonna Go Far Kid, The Offspring_

XxXxXxXx

I like green, and pink. They're a few of my very favorite colors. Thats why my room is a nice, pale pink and the sheets to my bed are pale green. They're pastel colors. I really like them. The couch in the corner is also green, just brighter. It's more of an emerald green. I have white dressers and a bright pink rug near the edge of my bed. There is a white desk and a pink chair against the left wall. The walls are white with painted pink Sakura flowers climbing up them and a few posters and pictures hang on it. I really only have the white in my room to even out the pink and greens. I still like my room a lot though. I designed it myself and I have to say I'm very proud of it.

My parent are very nice. They're slightly old, having had me later then normal but I still love them. Anyways, now they're a lot easier on me then I think they would have been in their younger days. My mother is really kind and what you'd think of a typical mother as. She loves cleaning and cooking. Actually, she adores cooking. She's really good at it and always adds her own things to dishes that make them just right. I love her food. She bakes quite a lot too and I often find myself bringing her cooking in to school with me to share with my friends. They love what she bakes, like me. She has pink hair, like mine only a bit darker and pretty brown eyes. She understands me really well and treasures my friends. She loves it when they come over for dinner.

My father is nice too. He owns his own little business selling things at a hardware store. The store is just below where we live so it's very convenient. We are fairly rich as his shop makes a big amount of money being the only hardware shop in the neighborhood. He use to be a detective or something. He has a lot of money left over from that too so I have a pretty luxurious life. I'm spoiled but not so spoiled that I'm really bitchy or anything. Anyways, back to my father. He really likes my friends, especially the boys cause then he can talk to them about cars and the such. He had light brown hair and emerald green eyes. I love his eyes because they are brighter then mine. Mine are a jade green but his are emerald and stand out so much more. He's really into engineering but sucks at fixing things. I still love him though. He doesn't like it when I come home late, always thinking I'm up to no good or something but he's not too bad.

My childhood has been a very easy, fun one. I've been friends/rivals with Ino since we were really young when she met me at a park. Back then I was really insecure about my forehead but she said I'd look better if I didn't try to hide it and she was right! I love all my other friends, even if they're kinda weird sometimes.

I use to be in love with Sasuke and I was leader of his Fangirl group called the SLFGO (Sasuke Lovers Fan Girls Organization) along with Ino but after years of stalking him and adoring him and getting absolutely nowhere, I gave up and Ino followed soon after. Be became friends with him and I liked it a lot more then just being a bother to him. He wasn't how we expected but now we're really good friends.

I never really thought about being in a gang before being friends with Sasuke. I just never imagined it. I heard a lot about ruthless gangs killing and raping victims and I was slightly scared to go out at night but now I'll even walk down a dark alley alone. I know who I am and I know people respect me. Well, I thought they did, until I heard what happened to the group a couple nights back. I was scared for them. And now, I don't really understand what might have made them so scared but I'm pretty much fine. I don't fear other groups because I know we can get through anything. We're Chidori, after all.

So this is my life. I'm young, in a gang, I have pink hair and jade green eyes. My favorite colors happen to be pink and green, coincidentally and I am an only child. I'm fifteen years old. I'm in no way poor and live with my two parents. I have lots of friends and am halfway through my first year of High school. Recently, I think I made friends with the new kid, but I'm not so sure. But anyways, I love life and so far, I have nothing to fear.

XxXxXxXx

Sakura was currently in her beautiful room, lying on her bed halfway with her upper body half hanging off the edge upside down. In her hand was a bright pink Iphone. Well, it was actually white but she had a pink cover over it. It was currently placed against her ear as she whined into it.

"Aww.. Come oonnnnnn Shikamaru! Were all going! Don't spoil it! We neeeeeed you there!" Came her shrill voice.

"Yea Shika! It's the same place as before and it'll be fun! The new kid might even be there." Ino tried to persuade the boy also.

"Why not?" Munch, munch, munch. "I mean there's nothing else to do tonight." Munch, munch. Came Shikamaru's best friends Choji's voice in between chews. They were currently in a six-way conversation Including Kiba and Sasuke.

"Too troublesome. And we went there not even a week ago. Why would I go again?" Shikamaru droned on.

"Because it's reaaaaaally good food! I mean, did you try that hamburger! It was soooo good. So much MEAT!" Kiba shouted. Everyone could imagine him drooling in his room. "And those fries! They were perfect. You rarely get perfect fries."

"Shut up Kiba!" Sakura snapped.

"Well, everyone's going Shikamaru. Were going to discuss the... plan. You're needed." This time it was Sasuke's voice, sounding emotionless and slightly bored.

"Fine, fine. I'll go. Same place as last time, correct?"

"Yep!" Ino chirped.

"Whatever. And we're meeting up for seven, right?"

"Mmhmm." Sakura hummed.

"See you guys later!" Kiba cheered before his line went dead. Sasuke, Choji and Shimamaru followed his example without even saying goodbye.

"Ug. Boys are so annoying! Right Ino..." Sakura looked down at the phone from a distance before placing it to her ear again. "Ino? Innnnnoooooo! INO! I can't believe you hung up on me too!" With that she tossed her phone away. She began to get dressed. She pulled on a pair of ripped black jean shorts and a silver T-shirt that said in black bold 'I'm not barbie! That bitch has everything!' She slipped on a purple and black striped jacket that's sleeves only went to her elbows but she scrunched them up to just below her shoulder. Sitting on her bed she pulled on a pair of above the knee length black socks and knee length Grey Classic Cardy Uggs.

She danced over to her full length mirror and checked herself out. "I look... awesoooooome!" Her smile only grew as she spun around and saw the outfit really did look good. Dark enough to be badass but not black enough to be considered completely emo. Kind of mysterious, just what she was looking for. "Now, for the makeup..." She lightly put some eye liner along her bottom lid and some light, slightly tainted lipgloss across her lips and smacked them together before smirking sexily into the mirror just for practice. Her long pink hair she let hang freely, her two side bits framing her face nicely. She clipped in two purple clips holing the left side back.

Happy with herself she walked to her dresser to grab her phone, wallet and keys before sliding them into her jean pockets. "Mom! Dad! I'm going out! I'll be home by ten!" She yelled as she made her way down the steps two at a time till she jumped to the bottom.

"Okay! Be careful!"

"Hai! I will!" With the slamming of a door Sakura took off towards the restaurant she and Ino had visited once before.

XxXxXxXx

Sakura had finally arrived at the place... Or so she thought. 'Maybe it's the wrong shop.' Looking up and down the road she realized that this was in fact the place they had eaten at earlier just, not the same. Instead of the baby blue and white exterior it was vibrant red and yellow. The name of the place had changed also from 'Namaki's' to 'D&Z's'. She was standing outside just staring. To passing citizens she realized she must look like a complete fool, standing in the middle of the pedestrian only road.

The sky was just beginning to get dark as it was now 6.50 and the nights still got dark pretty early, never mind the fact that the sky was covered in gloomy grey clouds blocking out all sunlight. The old fashioned dark green streetlights were lit up shining on the red cobble stones that was the streets floor. This was a relatively busy street, having many different shops and quality restaurants. This was the area all the teens now a days went to with Teen-ish shops, cool ice cream and other treat shops where they could just chill and a night club that was for under eighteens along with much more.

"Hey! Sakura!" The pink haired girl turned to see her best friend, Ino running down the street waving like an idiot. Her side fringe swung side to side as she skipped along, hiding her right eye. Her other pupil-less ocean blue eye was shining in excitement. Her face also had little make up on, just some light pink eye shadow and pink lipgloss. She was wearing a long sleeved, skin tight black shirt under a sleeveless, loose metallic blue belly top. She had on a short white skirt and black boots that reached halfway up her calf and had a slight heel. Her hair was held back in it's usual ponytail.

"What's wrong?"

"Am I at the right place? That is _suppose _to be Namaki's, right?"

Ino turned when Sakura's hand flung out to point at the restaurant. She soon realized what the problem was as that was definitely not Namaki's. "Yes. This is where it is. It's just not here." Sakura stared at her, the statement sounding stupid to her ears. "Ino, you really are a blond."

"Excuse me! What's that suppose to mean!"

"Nothing, nothing. Let's just go in. The place probably closed down or something and this place looks fairly busy so it must be okay food. We'll get a seat and wait for the others inside." The duo entered the diner which they soon found out was in fact a pizzeria.

"Smells. So. Good!" Ino moaned, the smell of the food making her mouth water.

"Hello ladies. How can I help you?" A man asked who looked to be in his late fifties. He was quite tall with long white hair and small black eyes. Coming down from the edge of his eye to the end of his cheeks were tattooed red lines. It looked like they were following tear tracks. Over his tan skin was a loose grey shirt and black pants under a red jacket. He was smiling flirtatiously at the two girls, his eyes dropping to their bust for a few second before shooting back up to their smooth faces.

"We'd like a table for fourteen, please."

"Fourteen! You want a table for fourteen!"

"Yes. Thank you." Ino said curtly, turning sideways to avoid looking at the leering man.

The man nodded. "Okay. I'll be right on it. Can you lovely ladies wait five minutes?"

"Sure." Looking around they noticed some waiting seat and sat down on the red leathery chairs. Once the man was out of earshot Sakura turned to the blond haired girl. "Did you see that pervert! He wasn't even trying to hide the fact that he was checking us out! And he's like, fifty!"

"I no! I was so crept out! But I think I saw him last time I was here yelling at the new kid. But that was when this place was called Namaki's." Looking around, Ino noticed the place wasn't like most Pizzeria's. It wasn't dirty and it didn't smell like the food was made in buckets of grease. There were booths instead of tables with vibrant red and orange flowers in vases and unlit candles at the empty tables. The napkins were made of a silky material and the silverware looked expensive. The booth chairs were red and the table yellow and silver. The walls were white with unique red drawings painted onto them. There wasn't really a design but the curly lines that connected looked elegant.

"Oh yeah! I forgot you said Naruto works here! I wonder where he is." Sakura began frantically searching the room but found no signs of blond. Meanwhile Ino found the same door as before only no one was walking through it at all. It seemed like it was locked. Her gaze was focused solely on the white door that was meant to blend into the wall but she knew it was there. Now though, she couldn't go investigate. Now there was no way in because it had been locked. There was no way to figure out what was behind it.

"Hey guys! I'm not late this time!" Came a rough voice and the two looked up to see Kiba standing before them. His brown eyes alight and a wolfish grin decorating his tan face. On each cheek was a long, red, upside down triangle that was his families tribal tattoos. His brown hair was messy and looked slightly damp. He was wearing baggy greyish/blue jeans and a brown thick jacket. His jacket's zipper was open and under it you could see a black shirt with a picture of a smiling dog and in red writing it said 'Dog's go woof'. He finished off with a pair of grey Supra Skytop shoes.

"Is you're hair... wet?" Ino asked as she stood up to examine it. He was taller then her by a few inch's so she grabbed one of his delicate ears and sharply pulled down, his head descending with his ear as he howled in pain. Ignoring his pleas of 'stop! Stop! Please! Mommy! Mommy it hurts! Stop!' she felt the brown hair and found it was in fact wet.

Ino looked to her hand to find some brown hair. "Ewwwwww! You got hair on me! You filthy dog!" She released the poor boys ear in favor of rubbing her wet and icky hand on his jacket. "Get it off! Get it off!"

"Oh hush Ino. You're making a scene!" Sakura grabbed the back of Ino's belly top and pulled her down into her seat. "And why, in gods name is your hair wet, Kiba?"

"I took a shower! Is that against the law!"

Ino snorted. "Well, thats a first."

"Sorry to disturb you but we have your table ready if you'll just follow me." The same weird man from before asked and pointed to a couple of tables pushed together not far off. "Are you sure there'll be fourteen people? I mean, so far there's only three of you..."

"Were positive! Now lets go!" They were shown to their table, or tables. Sakura took an edge seat with Kiba next to her and Ino across from her. It looked like the man wanted to stay even longer to ogle at the two girls but Kiba's glare warded him off. Soon after Shikamaru appeared. He came clad in black skinny jeans and a dark green T-shirt with a weird looking dear on it. The dear had crazy red eyes and sharp teeth. Below it was a stick person covered in blood. Above this written in black was the words 'Road Kill'. A creme jacket was worn over this. Covering his feet were black and white plaid vans. His hair was held up in it's usual spiky ponytail and he had two studs in his ear.

"Ug, this is so troublesome." The boy moaned as he flopped into the nearest seat beside Ino. "Where is everyone?"

"Don't ask me. We better tell people to ignore the sign and come in though." Ino looked at Sakura and nodding, both flipped out their phones and began texting everyone at impossible speeds.

"Hey guys! Just got the text! Me, Hinata and Neji were just chillin' outside waiting for someone else to show up." Came Tenten's voice from behind. Sakura and Kiba had to turn to look at their friend. She was dressed in a light purple dress that flowed out at the bottom. It reached her mid thigh. Under it was black leggings that had many tears in them and covering her feet were a pair of purple converse. Her hair was held up in two buns by purple hair ties and she had no make up on what so ever.

Hinata was behind her in a midnight blue dress that went down to her knees. A white bow had been added going around her waist and being tied at the back. She had calf high white socks and a pair of light blue converse over them. The dresses sleeves got wider the farther down her arm they went but stopped at her elbow. It looked like Tenten had put some make up on her because her lips were glossed. Her hair was left to lie freely on her shoulders. A dark blue choker that matched her dress was around her neck with a little flower on the side. All in all, she had Kiba drooling.

Next to her was Neji in a light blue/ almost white dress shirt that the first few buttons of were undone to show a pale chest and a pair of long black pants. His shirt wasn't tucked into the pants, instead hanging loosely. The sleeves were rolled up to just below his elbow which had a latch on it that held it up there. His hair was left to hang freely unlike how he had it usually in it's low ponytail. He was wearing a pair of plain black shoes. The material looked expensive and he was dressed unusually fancy as not even he, in his stuck up ways, would dress this lavishly. His pale eyes looked bored and uncaringly as Tenten elbowed him into mumbling a 'hi'.

"What's wrong with Mr. Asshole over there?" Kiba only smirked when a tick developed above the Hyuuga's eye.

"Hinata's mom wouldn't let him leave in a pair of jean and a T-shirt saying he should be respectful and polite looking on his first date." Tenten grinned as she watched her friends trying to hold back their laughter at the Hyuuga. Hinata was also giggling lightly at the misfortune of her cousin. Of course, they didn't last long and were soon on the floor with tears in their eyes gasping for breath.

"A-a date! Y-your aunt thinks you're going on a... DATE!" Ino managed between fits of uncontrollable laughter.

Neji looked uncomfortable as a blush formed on his cheeks in embarrassment. "She's been saying lately that I need to get a girlfriend and when Tenten showed up saying we were 'going out' of course meaning we were leaving but my aunt took it the wrong way. She even tried to put make up on me. I swear she wishes I were a girl like Hinata-chan."

Sakura only raised an eyebrow. "No wonder you act like a girl PMSing all the time and that long silky hair of yours! I wouldn't doubt the fact that she put you in dresses when you were younger."

"So I take it you and Tenten aren't dating." Shikamaru yawned.

"WHAT! You think me.. and Neji.. and ewww! He's like a brother to me! Just-just eww!" Tenten screeched, looking like she was about to hurl.

"There's no way I'd date her!"

"What's that suppose to mean Hyuuga!"

"N-nothing. Just that I wouldn't want to date such a... pretty and sweet girl as yourself." Tenten and Neji just stared at each other with Tenten looking completely emotionless and Neji getting closer to a nervous breakdown as the seconds went on. Just as he was about to break...

"Okay!... And Kiba..." All looked to where the brunette lie on his back. He was still rolling around on the ground in laughter. He was the only one left still giggling and by the looks of it he didn't even know it nor cared. Tenten and Neji ignored him, each taking their seats. As Neji went about stealing Kiba's he kicked the mutt on the ground. Hinata on the other hand pitied the brunette but took a seat by her cousin anyways.

"Hey!" Kiba growled, rubbing his abused arm. "That hurt!"

"Yea. Well your obnoxious laughter hurts more. I mean, can't you tone it down a bit? You sound like a fucking bird squawking."

"Yea! Well you sound like a b-"

"Shut up Kiba. And get off the floor." Came an annoyed voice. Everyone turned to see Sasuke take his seat next to Hinata. Kiba growled before going to the opposite side of the table and sitting down next to Tenten. Sasuke was in a pair of dark blue jeans and a black vest that was slightly slit up the sides to show some pale skin. He had a silver chain hanging around his neck and light blue Mountain Addition Vans covered his feet. His hair was in it's usual duck-butt style.

Sakura smiled at him. "Hey Sasuke. What took so long."

"By the looks of it I'm not the only one late. Although I think I heard Lee a couple blocks down on my way here..." Everyone shivered, none wanting to see Lee in his green jumpsuit.

"It tis I! Rock Lee! With my faithful and very youthful companions Temari, Kankuro and Gaara!" Speak of the devil and he shall arrive, or so the saying goes.. Lee stood at the foot of the table in his horrid green outfit. It was a pair of slightly baggy dark green pants, a black belt, a skin tight green T-shirt along with a green jacket. Finishing it off was his illumines green shoes. His hair was in a bowlcut and his eyebrows were as bushy as ever.

"Shut up Lee!" Temari snapped. Her hair was down and free which was unusual for her as she found it annoying and in the way when it wasn't tied back. She was wearing dark blue jeggings, a long white T-shirt/dress that was sleeveless and a pair of black arm warmers. In her hair was a black butterfly clip. Her feet were in a pair of comfy dark brown uggs. She had on lipgloss and light mascara. Hanging around her neck was several necklaces that were tangled up into one.

"Why did you guys show up with Lee?"

"I saw these youthful ado-"

"He saw us crossing the road and came over." Kankuro smirked as he interrupted the green monster. Kankuro was wearing a dark brown T-shirt. A pair of baggy grey sweatpants were worn over a pair of black combat boots. He had an open black jacket on to finish the look off. A few silver rings were on his right hand and his brown hair was unruly and wild, not that he cared.

"And he decided to tell us all about his youthful encounter with a lady he knocked down earlier this day that was just so interesting." Sarcasm was heavy in the red heads voice. His stance was uncaring with his hands shoved deep into the pockets of his grey jeans. His red long sleeved shirt was slightly baggy and the sleeves were too long, going all the way to the start of his thumb. One ear had three earrings in the top cartilage going downwards. He had black boots just like his brothers. His red hair was also wild like his brothers, falling just above his eyes partially covering up his tattoo for love.

The four all sat down and joined in the chat. Tenten had to trade seats with Sasuke in order to:

1. Stop Lee from talking so much about youth.

2. To prevent the Uchiha from getting angry and murdering their friend.

3. Because she enjoyed abusing Lee in a non-mean way, if that was possible.

"Hey guys!" Came a deepish voice and they all turned to see Choji and Shino standing there. Choji was clad in a long sleeved red shirt under a dark blue sweater and a pair of light brown kaiki's. He was in his normal pair of chocolate brown convers and his hair was as spikey as ever.

Shino, who was next to him had his usual pair of dark sunglasses on and a long trench coat that's turtle neck went up to the edge of his pale chin. Under was a pair of black baggy jeans and black vans. He had a pair of black silk fingerless gloves covering his hands that went under the long sleeves of his coat. Not much skin was showing. He carefully took off his jacket and spread in on the back on his chair. Under the coat was a tight black jacket.

"You warm enough?" Came Kiba's remark as he stared at all the layers his friend had been wearing.

"Yes. Thank you."

"Well, welcome to the party. Now, the only ones left to show up are... Wait. Everyone's here!" Ino cheered after she counted everyone. Fourteen people were present.

"I-I wonder wh-why th-the place ch-changed it's n-name!" Hinata stuttered out, blushing when everyone turned.

"Ah, so are the lovely ladies ready to order some drinks? I'm ready and waiting, anytime you want or need me!" Came the overly nice and slightly rough voice of the white haired creep as he lived up to his name by creeping up on the group, eyeing the girls with no shame.

"Yes. We are." Came the curt reply of their leader as he glared at the man. He had no right to ogle his friends and it was down right twisted. The man had to be at least three times their age. Small black eyes of the man turned to look at the boy who had replied and smirked at the glare.

"I don't believe I was asking you. As one of our oh so nice workers always say, ladies first and these five, extrodanarily beautiful ladies will come first to me any day as their so developed bodies can-"

"SHUT UP Ero-sensie!" Shouted a loud voice as the man was hit upside the head by a hard, mean looking bundle of menu's. The white haired man's face smacked right into the table with a loud bang but he was up again just as quick, holding his bleeding nose and glaring at the person who had attacked him.

"I told you not to call me that you twirp! And how dare you interrupt my speech! I was just admiring these ladies!"

"Admiring my ass! You were fucking staring at them with drool coming out of you mouth." On instinct the man's hand went up to check his mouth and found no saliva.

"I was NOT drooling! And get back to work! I'm not paying you to boss me around! Last time I check I was the one in charge!"

"Get back to your office old man! Can't you see you're disturbing people dinners! They might want a refund!" At this the mans eyes widened and he scurried away to the kitchen. When he was sure the man had gone to work Naruto walked up to his schoolmates. He was dressed in a pair of black pants and a red shirt with a red apron around his waist. His hair was messier then usual but his eyes were their usual sky blue as he smiled at them. "Now that he's gone, what can I get you?"

"F-fanta p-please!"

"Water."

"Water for me too!" Sakura cried out as she high-fived Ino.

"A youthful amount of Coke!"

Neji glanced at his friend before sighing. "He'll take a water, not Coke. And I'll have a 7up."

"Orange juice for me!" Tenten smiled.

"Hn. Rootbeer."

"Ha! I love rootbeer! So does Akamaru. Too bad he's not here. Anyways, I'll have rootbeer like Ice Queen here!"

Temari smiled politely at her fellow blond. "A-"

"Sherly Temple. I know. Gaara wants a Sunkist and Kankuro would like a Royal Roger." Sky blue eyes flashed to Ocean blue but before anyone could blink they were back to their normal sky color. Only one person noticed the change as the table went into an awkward silence, all staring at their blond waiter. Sakura was confused. How did Naruto's eyes always turn different shades of blue?

"Yea. How'd you know." Kankura asked bluntly. He hated awkward moments.

"Eh... Lucky guess?"

"Are you asking us or telling us." The blue eyes flashed in color again, only this time they didn't turn back. All gazed into the dark eyes of their classmate.

Naruto, on the other hand was tense all over. He stared in shock as memories wracked through his brain. _'This is Gaara.' _His mind helpfully told him. _'This is my Gaara, sitting right in front of me and talking to me like we use to talk. This is Gaara, staring at me with uncaring and emotionless eyes. This is Gaara, who I can read like a book but he can't read me. This is my _**fucking **_Gaara who doesn't know me, doesn't remember me, doesn't even remember what we have been through and is staring at me with his beautiful green eyes asking me if I'm telling him or asking him, just like he use to. Only he doesn't know that. My Gaara, my fucking Gaara! Why? It hurts and I don't know why. No, I know why but I don't want to know at all. I need space. I need to think. I need a smoke.' _Slowly, Naruto relaxed his muscles and forced himself to smile.

"Why, I'm telling you of course." _'But I don't want to tell you.'_

"Okaaaaay." Tenten dragged out. "That awkward moment when your waiter knows what you're ordering." At this said waiter blushed in embarrassment.

"Uh... Sorry?"

Sasuke smirked. _'Cute... Wait... what!' _"Say, Dobe. Is the fucking on the menu this time?"

Naruto spluttered at the memory when he asked what they would like to fuck. "Shut up Teme! And don't call me Dobe!"

"Anyways. I'll take an Ice Tea please." Shino, being the nice person he was distracted them from the previous moment. Shikamaru wasn't fooled. His calculating eyes never left the blond before him as he continued to take drink orders and smile, but it wasn't a real smile. That much was obvious. There were many theories running through his mind. The first and most stupid being that the blond was a telepath. _'That's impossible. Maybe he's taken their order before. Well, he's taken Gaara's but not Temari's or Kankuro's. What else?'_

"Eh, Lazyass. Do you want anything?"

"Huh. Oh, an apple juice. By the way, why's this places name different?"

"Oh! Ero-sensei decided that he'll keep changing the place until he's satisfied with how many customers we get. So far this idea is doing better then the last but who knows when he's going to change it again! Anyways, Mr. Squirrel, what you want?"

"I'll have a Dr. Pepper."

"Okay. I'll send a waiter right out with that and to take your orders!" Before anyone could ask why he wouldn't be the one coming back with their drinks the blond had disappeared behind the swinging doors which led to the kitchen, just like his boss had done not moments before.

Ino smirked. "Well, he's an odd one."

"Hn. I don't care."

"Oh, shut up Sasuke. We all know you're just as curious as us!" Neji sneered.

Shino pushed up his glasses. "We should probably get back on topic." He mumbled.

"Ah, yes! Shikamaru, would you like to start us off?" Temari smiled at the boy

"Yes Shikamaru! Let the power of youth lead you!"

"Shup up Lee!" Tenten screeched, smacking the boy.

Shikamaru leaned back into his chair and lazily looked up. "This is so troublesome."

XxXxXxXx

Naruto sat outside on the floor to their allyway. He was currently next to the dumpster but didn't really care. It was dark out and the smell was terrible but he would live through it for his smoke. Pulling the cigarette away from his lips and letting out a deep breath, he closed his eyes. Tonight, he had realized something important. Something vital to him. He had found out why Gaara, Temari and Kankuro hadn't recognized him.

He should have realized it sooner, he knew. It had been quite obvious. They didn't recognize him, because they didn't remember him. It wasn't the case of simply forgetting, he knew that much. They hadn't fogot him, they had forgotten everything and it wasn't by accident.

When he had looked into Gaara's green eyes which he loved so much he knew, he just knew that Gaara had no recollection of him and their previous lives. They looked blank, like they had no meaning and they didn't because the eyes were new. They didn't have a past because Gaara couldn't remember his. Everything he knew was at the latest from the past three year. Somewhere between when he left and now Gaara had lost everything he knew.

It was dangerous for Gaara not to remember. Gaara would be in danger. If someone found out what Shikaku looked like then they would know it was Gaara. Gaara would be targetted and possibly attacked and he didn't even know it. Gaara was in danger. But, then again, what if it was an attack that made Gaara forget. Alone he was no match if he was ganged up on and Temari and Kankuro would have been useless in a fight at that time.

Naruto didn't know how to feel about this. Happy, sad, lonely? He couldn't identify any emotions he felt. They were just there, rushing through him and he couldn't do anything to stop them. He knew one thing for sure though, he felt like crying. He wanted to sob and scream and fucking cry and he didn't really know why. Maybe it was because he couldn't handle all the emotions at once, maybe it was because Gaara didn't remember, maybe it was because he felt so damn guilty that Gaara was in danger, maybe it was because he was so helpless right now. He couldn't understand anything and he hated it.

He knew one thing for sure though. He had just lost his best friend. His brother.

He didn't hear the footsteps that walked up to him or the whispers which were trying to be quiet and descrite but failing miserably. He only realized he wasn't alone when a hand gripped his shirt and yanked him roughly to his feet as his smoke fell from his lips. He looked up to see two men looking down at him, smirks on their faces. One had a beer belly and black hair. He was tall and buff though. The other had light brown hair and a slightly kinder face, not so rough. He wasn't as fat as the other and didn't have as much muscle but was taller. The black haired one shoved him against a wall and leered down.

"You work in there, right?" He asked menacingly.

"Maybe. What do you want." Now Naruto wasn't scared but he was wary. These guys were bigger and probably stronger than him. If they were to pin him down he wouldn't be able to throw them off. And he had no weapons on him.

"We've heard that Kitsune has been hanging around here and that you work in there every night. You must have seen something and we want to know where he hangs out." The nicer looking guy demanded.

"Who wants to know. What do you want with him!"

The chubby guy sneered down at him. "Why. You know him or something?"

Naruto glared, his eyes turning to Cobalt blue. "Maybe I do. What do you want with him!... If you tell me I'll pass on the message."

"Our boss want him to do us a job. Tell him to meet us in an hour at the abandoned toy factory."

"Shut up Soka! You idiot!" The mean one snapped.

"Oh Jestu! Chill! He's just going to pass the message on. Now lets go." Soka growled back.

Jetsu paused as he eyed the blonds lithe body. "Maybe we could stay a little longer."

Naruto's eyes widened as he looked up into the lustful gaze. "Let me go you Bastard!"

"Maybe I don't wanna!" The man leaned down so he was inch's away from the blonds lips, his breath ghosting over Naruto's face making him shudder. "You look pretty cute. Like a girl." He then descended on the blond, his lips crashing into the teenagers as he roughly moved against them.

Naruto froze. This wasn't the first time he had been molested and forced into something he didn't want but every time it happened he felt so powerless. The man was pinning his arms to the concrete wall behind him and his legs were restrained with the mans own legs. Naruto hated this. The man forced his tongue into the blonds mouth and Naruto wanted to gag. Tears once again began to burn at the back of his vision and he squeezed his eyes close to stop them from leaking out. Only when his lungs were burning did Jetsu pull away.

"Come on man! We don't have time! Lets go!" Soka whined. He didn't like what his partner did but he wasn't about to get involved. It wasn't his business.

"I'll be quick." With that the lips were forced back onto his own and a tongue was intruding down his throat. He could hear the other mans footsteps walking away. That man was the only person who could save him and he was leaving. Jetsu pulled back again and moved on to the tan neck, biting and sucking. His hands wandered down to Naruto's belt buckle and that was when the blond truly got scared. The belt was slipped off his slim hips.

"iie! Stop! Please!" He could hear his own hoarse plea and felt weak. He hated it but this was the one thing he couldn't defend himself against. Normally, he'd knee the guy in the nuts but he was restrained. "Please! I-I don't want this! Please. Stop. Please!"

"But you're so cute and hot. Why should I! I want to feel that hot, tight-"

"No! Please! No!" Just as the guy was about to yank his pants down there was a soft clicking noise and the man froze. Naruto looked up to find a gun at the mans head. Following the arm he found the black object led to none other than his boss, Jiraiya.

"Leave and don't come back. If I ever find you harassing this boy again I won't hesitate to blow your brains out!" Jiraiya hissed, shoving the gun into the guys skull even harder.

"Y-yes!" The man looked down into azure blue eyes. "You better pass the message on." With that he rushed out of there and didn't look back.

Once he was sure the man was gone Jiraiya lowered the gun and grabbed the blonds upper arm, pulling him away from the wall. He eyed the quiet blond. He couldn't see into the kids eyes as his blond hair shadowed them. It was barely noticeable and if Jiaraya hadn't been touching the kid he wouldn't have noticed but the blond was shaking. The man sighed. "You okay kid. He didn't hurt you, did he." A curt shake of the head was his answer. "Come on then, lets get inside. It's cold out here."

Naruto bent down slowly to grab his belt and slid it through the holes in his pants. He pulled it tighter then usual to make sure his pants weren't in fact coming down before following his boss inside. The other workers were looking at him but he ignored them.

"No one had seen you in a while so I went looking for you. You should be more careful. You're quite small and could easily be taken advantage of like that again. Try to be more careful, I won't always be around to save your ass." The man grumbled.

"I will. C-can I go home?" Black eyes watched the boy for a few seconds before nodding.

"See you tomorrow kid."

"Hai." Naruto quickly grabbed his bag and fled the restaurant, ignoring the table in which were watching him with curious eyes.

XxXxXxXx

"Wonder what that was about." Kiba mumbled as he watched the blond rush out the door.

Ino shrugged. "Don't know. Maybe he was in a rush to get home or something."

"He looked kinda sad." Sakura softly whispered with worried eyes.

"We can think about that later. We need to get back on topic." Kankuro ordered, hands folded in front of him.

"Yea. Anyways. So here's what we got so far. We make a trap, setting one of us up as bait and let another team attack us. Kitsune will come and save us and then we attack him. He won't be able to stop all of us!" Shikamaru said, shortening down the whole concept of the idea.

"But who will be bait." Choji asked.

Gaara sighed. "It can't be one of us. He might know who's in the gang and know were trying to set him up. We need someone outside Chidori." Everyone else nodded along.

Shino looked around warily. "Well, Hinata isn't in the gang."

"What!" Kiba roared.

"No way! It's too dangerous!" Neji shouted, shooting up, his back tense.

"I-I don't mind Nii-san! I know K-Kitsune won't l-let me ge-get hurt a-a-and neither will you g-guys!" Hinata smiled timidly.

Neji glared. "No way! We can't risk your life like that!"

"But you were willing to risk someone elses." Neji swiftly turned on Sasuke.

"Shut up! What do you know! I refuse to let her get involved in this! She's too innocent and she's not a part of us! I won't let her get hurt because of some stupid idea!"

"She's the only one who will willingly agree, Neji. And we'll keep her safe. Also, Kitsune will come! There's no doubt!" Tenten soothed, trying to calm her friend.

Hinata looked away at Neji's words. "I-I want to nii-san. P-please l-let me!" Looking down into pale eyes just like his own he saw that she actually, sincerely wanted to.

"Fine. But only if we make sure she's safe!"

Sakura smiled. "Of course. Were not just gonna send her out to a gang with no way to protect her."

"Well. It's getting late. We should probably go home." Kiba smiled.

"Yea. Lets pay and go!"

"Hn. Whatever."

XxXxXxXx

_'I'm fine. I'm fine. He didn't do anything. He didn't get far. He didn't do anything. I was saved. I'm okay. I'm strong. I'm strong. Stronger then him. I'm fine.' _Naruto sat on his bed. His room was a plain white and his bed was covered in black sheets with orange pillows. The room was rather bare with only a few pictures on his bedside table. It was a mess with clothes strewn all over the wooden floor so it looked like a multi-colored carpet. He looked up to see his reflection staring back at him. His blond hair was wild and he hated his eyes. The eyes staring back at him were not his. They weren't sky blue. They were Sapphire blue. His usual make-up had been worn off and he could see the ugly scars on his cheeks. They were very noticeable, three on each cheek marring his tan skin.

He looked away, unable to stand his appearance any longer. It wasn't him. He never looked that... weak. The person in the mirror was a defenseless, sad little boy who had no place in this world. He looked too small and innocent and fucking frail. He was not frail! He was Kitsune, he was Naruto, he was not fragile in any way! The mirror lied. Sure, he was small but he was not delicate. He would prove that tonight, too. He was going to go meet them but it would not be the same. This time he wouldn't get pinned, he wouldn't be left vulnerable. This time, he would be going as Kitsune and Kitsune never failed. Kitsune never got scared because Kitsune was strong.

Finally back in the right state of mind he looked down to find his left hand gripping his right arm, his nails breaking through the skin and leaving crescent shaped bloody marks. He quickly retracted his arm and headed towards the bathroom for a shower. Kitsune was expected to be there in a half an hour. He didn't have time to waste.

XxXxXxXx

"Where's this guy! I bet the kid didn't even tell him to come!" Jetsu paced, hands thrown in air.

Soka just glared. "And who's fault is that! If you didn't force yourself onto the kid he probably would have done as asked!"

"Hey! It's not my fault the kid was so hot! He would have been a good fuck too!"

"You're sick!"

"Shut up fucker!" The sound of rumbling cut off Soka before he could reply. The two lackeys looked down the deserted parking lot to see a motorcycle driving towards them speedily. It didn't slow down even as the person got closer. Just as it was about to hit them and the duo were clinging to each other in fear the bike swerved right to a quick stop leaving tire marks on the ground. The person wasn't wearing a helmet and their bike was all black. Slowly, the person stood to reveal a short figure. They were in tight black jeans with a few rips and a baggy hoodie. The hood was pulled up to shadow their face despite the fact that a creepy looking, fox like mask covered it. The mask's mouth was in the shape of a smirk and as the person stared at them they had no doubt that behind the cover they too were smirking.

"Are you Kitsune!"

"No, I'm Dog, dipshit."

"Shut the fuck up... Fucker!"

"That the only insult you know?"

"Shut up Jetsu! I'm sorry for my... partners behavior. We would be grateful if you came with us though." Soka smiled, his hand discreetly on the back of his friends head, hand gripping hair in a warming if he slipped up he'd get a painful tug.

"What does your boss want me for and where do you plan to lead me?" Soka smiled as he stared at the blank mask. It crept him out, just looking at the mask.

"He needs your help in getting rid of a... opposer. And we're just taking you to the abandoned factory behind this one."

"Fine. I'll leave my bike here and trust none of your colleges will do any damage to it."

"We'll make sure no one touches it!" Kitsune nodded and began following the idiotic duo. They led him to a large cement building with very few windows. Through the few windows that were high up you could see lights on but nothing else. No people. They stopped at an old, worn looking door. Using a key they easily opened it. The inside was much different from the outer design which was dull and ordinary. Instead it was lined with velvety red carpet and the walls were a clean white. They reached another door, this one big and locked with a machine. Soka pulled out a card and swiped it in the little machine on the side. The doors automatically opened and they walked through. Going down another long hall they turned right. Just before they got to the end of the hall which was a pair of glass doors they stopped at a door to the right. Jetsu knocked and he heard a gruff, 'come in' so they entered into the small room.

Kitsune found himself staring at a small desk with a big white apple laptop resting on it along with papers and files. He could see a picture of himself in his mask on the table but the man sitting behind it quickly covered the papers. The papers which were about him.

The man behind the desk was short and slightly fat. He had a black mustache along his lips and black hair that was shining from the grease used to sleek it back. He had hard brown eyes which looked warily on at him. He was in a black business suit and sitting on a big wheely chair.

"Ah, Kitsune, correct? I am Kioza." The man said, smiling politely.

"Yes. I hear you request my help. What can I do for you." Short and to the point, just how he liked it.

The man stared at him for a second, as if judging him before once again forcing that fake smile on his face once more. "Well. I have a... mission I guess you could call it."

Kitsune stared on with calculating eyes. "I assumed as much. Why are you asking me to do it. I'm sure there are plenty of other.. more active people ready to do whatever this is you want, unless... it is too difficult for others." Despite the innocent sounding question there was another hidden beneath. What Kitsune was actually asking was what was so important they needed Kitsune.

The man of course knew this, being a leader of a well known but illegal organization. "You see, you're the only person with such a big reputation that I am sure can get the job done fast and correctly. Others might take a while or make a mistake which will be fatal towards me and my group."

"I see. Well, tell me what you want me to do and I'll tell you whether I'm willing and what my price will be."

"There's a man named Tajuka. He's a broken off gang leader like yourself who now works alone. He has a high reputation like yourself and is out for my head. He has already tried several times to assassinate me and failed due to me warding him off." The man grinned as he boasted at the obvious lie. The man couldn't protect himself. That's why he wanted Kitsune help.

"Why is he after your head?"

The smile dimmed and his eyes darted around the room. "He doesn't like my work."

"Your work. What exactly is your work?"

The man seemed to be considering something before he spoke. "Do you like animals?"

Kitsune watched him as he fidgeted. He could say yes but this wasn't simply a like or hate question. Each answer would have a consequence. "No. I can't say I do." The man signed in relief.

"Then I'll show you my work. Follow me. Jetsu, Soka, stay here and watch my office." The two nodded and Kitsune followed the man out of his office and towards the glass doors he had seen earlier. They stopped just outside and from what Kitsune could tell it was some sort of a control room. The man swiped a silver card through the machine and with a beep it opened. They walked in. There were various machines lined against the walls with switches and blinking lights. The walls were made of glass to look over the main room of the factory. Each separate machine was patrolled by one or more workers.

With an uneasy feeling in his gut Kitsune inched towards the windows. He stood strait and held himself high, sending the vibe that he was important and no one should mess with him. He knew that whatever he would see would be something he never wanted to know but at the same time he had to face it. Finally reaching the window his blue eyes darted down to the floor below him. Before he could even comprehend everything he felt the urge to kill the man right there. Below him were various machines covering an unbelievably large room. People were darting around, operating the machines but that wasn't the bad part. The terrible part was the fact that hundreds upon hundreds of animals were down there being injected with things, being made run on treadmills, having blood samples taken from them, being beaten. They were being abused. Every few minutes a new crate of animals were pushed through the double doors on a trolley. The new ones replaced the old and the used animals were pushed out of there in much too small cages.

"What is this!"

"It's my brilliant plan. You see, the key to change, or evolution as you may call it is experiments. You can't get anywhere if you don't try new things out. These animals are being injected with different things and then they are trailed to see if anything worked. We might inject them with something that would give them strength, or agility and then we make them run on a treadmill to see if their speed increased or tied to a rope and make them pull to see if they got any stronger. If they don't we either dump them or inject them with something new. We are treating them only the best, of course. A meal a day and unlimited water supply. Most of them are domestic animals but every so often we find a wild one tamable. We obviously can't do these experiments on humans so we use animals. And one day, when we find something that will work then humans will try it and I'll become a millionaire. Just think of it, something that can cure cancer, or make you invincible. Soon I will make everything possible. I have the very best scientists working on it so it won't be long!"

"So Tajuka wants to kill you because he likes animals?"

"Yes! Now, how much will it be for you to make it so he can't kill me?" The man smiled, pulling out a check book.

Kitsune stared at him "Nothing."

"Nothing! You don't really think I'm stupid enough to think you'll do this for nothing at all! Now. How much?"

"I don't want your money."

Kioza rolled him eyes impatiently. "Well, what do you want then?"

"I will make it so he can't harm you if you release all these animals."

Silence followed before the man burst out in laughter along with his employees in the room. "That's a good one! Now, what do you really want?"

"I meant what I said. I want you to let all these animals go." Kioza's face soon turned serious as he realized the man before him wasn't lying.

"You've got to be kidding. They are my business. Without them I'd have nothing. I can't just release them. Anyways, they're too vicious to be let out into the open. They're hateful creatures now and would attack any human given the chance. They wouldn't be able to survive out in the wild. That would be cruel."

Kitsune smirked, his domineer turning cold. "It's either that or Tajuka kills you. It's not like you can't find other animals soon enough. Either agree or I will make sure Tajuka deposes of you."

Kioza gulp, suddenly feeling nervous as the short man soon turned menacing. His voice becoming crueler and his mask's smirk seemed to mock him. "If I agree you promise to make it so Tajuka can't kill me."

"I promise. I won't let him kill you."

"Okay. I'll release the animals once you're do-"

Kitsune snorted. "Now I think it's you who thinks I am stupid. I know very well that once my side of the deal is held up you will abandon our agreement. I want the animals out of here today. I can organize trucks to come pick them up but I will need some of your men to drive the trucks. I have a place you can take them to. Once that is done I will make it so he can not hurt you."

"How do I know you'll hold up your side of the deal once I let the animals go." The mans brown eyes narrowed.

"I have nothing to gain from not doing as agreed. It makes no difference to me if I make sure you cannot be harmed by him or not. But you, on the other hand have your business so you would have reason to abandon the deal."

"Fine. I agree. When do you want the animals transported?"

"How many animals are there?"

"Three hundred and about thirty. Now answer my question."

"In an hour. I want Jetsu and Soka driving two of the truck along with five of your youngest workers to drive the other trucks. I will give to them the area I want the animals in."

"I see. Then I will see you in an hour."

"I will need a card to open the doors."

Without another thought on the request Kioza reached into his pocket and pulled out another silver pass. He handed it to Kitsune before shaking hands with the man which were surprisingly small and soft. He eyed the shorter male and began to question just how old the boy was.

"An hour." The boy seemed to say to himself as he took one last glance through the windows and exited the room, heading towards the exit.

"Uh, sir!"

"What!" The brown haired man snapped as he turned to his employee.

The small worker quivered in his chair. "Was it so wise to give that man a pass to out work area? I mean, he could go anywhere with it."

"You have one too, don't you. How do I know you're not going to do what you are accusing that man of do." When silence followed he smirked. "I suggest you keep your mouth shut is you value your life and your job."

XxXxXxXx

"Kitsune."

"Snake's apprentice."

"I have a fucking name!"

"And I don't care. You got the stuff?"

"Yea. And you owe me for this on such fucking short notice. Snake won't be happy."

"Hai, hai. Whatever. He owes me too."

"You know this is coming at a price, right?"

"I know. I got the information he wants. I'll bring it over tomorrow."

"Fine... So what you plan to do with all this?"

"Kaboom."

"Kaboom! Who, what, where?"

"Doesn't matter. I've got to go. You know, a tight schedule to keep for someone like me."

"Kay. Better show up tomorrow."

"I will. By the way, you got any smokes? I'm all out?"

"Yeah. Catch."

"Thanks. See ya."

XxXxXxXx

Thirty minutes later saw the Kitsune standing outside the factory. There were seven trucks lined up behind him and the animals were being piled in crate after crate. He could hear the poor animals whines, whimpers, growls, everything. They had been tortured and couldn't be expected to trust ever again. He knew where they could go though. He had the perfect spot. Everything would be okay.

"So, Kitsune, my man! I see you have chosen us to drive! Got an address for us?" Jotsu asked as he sauntered over.

"I will give it to all of the drivers in a few minutes, once all the animals are loaded up."

"Eh, why so stiff! We're pals now?" Soka asked, placing a hand on the small man because he was too short to wrap a friendly arm around. Kitsune just shrugged it off. He was about to tell them to fuck off when he saw the main door open and Kioza walk out.

"So, when will you be keeping up your side of the deal?"

"Soon. Very soon." Kioza couldn't help but shiver as the man said this. He seemed almost excited and Kioza felt like he was being left in the dark about something. Something very important.

"I see. Good."

"Um... Sir! We have finished loading on the animals. The drivers said they're ready to go once they get the directions!" A young looking man interrupted, not making eye contact.

Kioza smirked. There was no way these animals would listen to Kitsune. "Yes. Where will these animals be going?"

Kitsune ignored him and turned to Soka who was so far his favorite person here. He handed him a couple slips of paper. "The address is on these. Give one to each driver. You will need another person to follow with a car to return you in. I want this man to drive that car." Kitsune pointed to the spluttering employee. "Just leave the animals in the truck. I will go there myself to let them out. If I find any damage done I will come back and kill you all." With a gulp Soka nodded and took the papers.

"Well. Kitsune. I will be returning into the factory to make sure that my workers are cleaning up."

"I will join you."

Fate was on his side.

XxXxXxXx -Kitsune (Naruto's) POV

We walked once again through the long halls. My eyes couldn't help but dart around, making sure there weren't security camera's and I wasn't walking into a trap. If they knew just what was going on they wouldn't hesitate to attack, although if they knew they might have just broken the deal.

We passed his office door and continued on to the glass room. I could feel Kioza's eyes on me but I don't care. He can question my motives all he want but he will never understand. The man was stupid if the way he made the deal was any example. Kitsune wasn't like Naruto. Kitsune didn't hide. Kitsune didn't pretend. Kitsune took someone's fault and made it into his advantage.

It's not my fault the man made a grave mistake. I am the Kitsune, ex-leader of a very strong gang, the Jinchuuriki's. The guy just wasn't careful enough. He should have known all gang people are sly to some degree, especially when you make them angry. I'm no exception. I'm like a genie. You give me your wish and I grant it, just not how you expected to receive it.

We finally reached the glass doors and Kioza unlocked them before entering. I followed right behind like the good little minion. He thought I was on his team. He thought we were partners of some sort. He gave me a pass into his building. He helped me.

I once again walked to the edge so I could look at all the employees. I liked this place better now. There were no animals being hurt, being experimented on. But the workers were all walking around, cleaning things and fixing things. They probably had nothing better to do. They were all mean looking people. I won't regret this.

"So, Kioza, how's it feel like to be hunted? That at any given moment Tajuka could kill you?" I asked, a grin on my face.

"What do you mean? You're going to kill him!" I could feel his unease as he spoke. I love this. The feeling of power. Of being in control. The feeling of their fear and I know I'm the cause of it. Their fear of me.

"Am I now? What makes you think that?"

"An agreement! We had an agreement!"

"I don't remember agreeing to that."

"WHAT! It was less then two HOURS ago! You can't back down! We made a deal!" The man screamed, his face turning red in his fury. He looked funny.

I stared at him. I could literally feel my eyes turning to an ice blue color. "If I remember correctly, I said I would make it so he couldn't kill you and he won't."

"So that mean you kill him!" The man spoke down to me like I was a five year old and I hated it. I wasn't a child. I was much too mature to even be considered a child.

"Correction. It means I kill you." A cruel smirk made it's way onto my lips and my eyes alight with a sick pleasure in doing this. The man just stared at me in disbelief. His employee wasn't as stupid though. I didn't realize he had charged until he was on me, his fist making contact with my face. The man was strong, I knew that for sure when I heard a loud cracking noise. For a second, I thought I lost my mask. I was wrong. It had cracked but not completely so it was still in one piece. The man had to pay though. He nearly gave away my identity, not that anyone would be leaving here alive. I ducked under his next attack and sent my fist forward, right into the mans stomach. I turned from him. He was on the floor and I didn't need much time.

Their so called strong and brave boss was racing for the exit. Unfortunately for him, he was out of shape and had to stumble along. Me, on the other hand, am one of the fastest runners in my old school. I was on the track team and was the star runner. Before the guy could even comprehend what was happening I had latched on to the back of his shirt and yanked. He was sent sprawling to the floor. Like a good little gang member I grabbed his pass to open the door before racing out myself and locking it behind me. I had broken the swipe on my way out for good measures as other employees had passes. I turned to look into the glass room and smirked, knowing all the people down below were oblivious to their fate about to come.

I saw Kioza get back to his feet and run to the door, slamming his thick fists against the bullet proof glass. He wouldn't be getting out of there. His angry brown eyes bore down on me and I smirk up to him. I reach for my mask and slip it off. He won't be alive much longer anyways. He should see the person who's about to kill him. It slides off and he recoils, taking a step back as he looks upon my young features. My wild locks fall into my eyes as I stare up though them at this man. My eyes are like ice and he knows he's in trouble. My twisted smirk once again forms, this time for him to see upon my face. My three whisker marks stand proud on my tan cheeks which I see in my reflection on the clear glass. My hood is still up but it doesn't matter.

"Y-you! You're just a child!" Kioza yells. I feel offended.

"Maybe. But this child is about to kill you."

He laughs. "You're the Kitsune! What could a small boy like you possibly do?" He's a stupid man.

"Destroy you. I only wish you could be alive to see this place when I'm done with it. Speaking of which." I look down at my clock before reaching into my pocket and pulling out a small black device with two buttons on it. One red and one yellow. I press down on the yellow one and hear several things blow up. Kioza does too and runs to the window. I can only imagine what he is seeing. If my plan went as well... planned then all the doors down stairs should have locked because their swiper had been blown up and the employee's should be freaking out. Kioza comes back to me with a frantic look on his face.

Stage 1 Lock In : Success.

"What did you do!"

"Oh. I just locked all your men into that room like you locked those animals in their cages." My smirk never leaves my face.

"What do you plan to do!"

Silly people. It's not that difficult to figure out. "Boom." My hand go into a fist before my fingers spring outwards and my hand floats upwards before drifting down slowly. Kioza's reaction is immediate. He looks terrified.

"Wh-what! How! There's no way!"

I dig into my pocket before fingering the small plastic device and pulling it out. His eyes widen. He realizes. He had given me all I needed to get rid of him. He practically killed himself. In my hand was the pass from earlier.

"Y-you wouldn't really do that! You're not that cruel and savage! Have mercy! We're just innocent people!" His hands are pressed onto the glass just like his ugly face. I turn my back to him and he know. I would.

"B-but you are taking these people from their families! That's evil! You're a monster!" I know I will feel this later on, the repercussion of my actions and his words will haunt me. The guilt will consume me and I will be a living mess. But I am different, I am inhuman. I am Kitsune. I don't care. I can't care. I am a mistake, but that's okay. I am a mistake who is on the way to getting where he needs to be.

"So. I am just doing what you did to those animals. You never showed them mercy. You are the monster." I reply, my voice dead. My smirk is now gone because he can't see me.

"You really aren't human!" He seems shocked. I wonder why.

Stage 2 Install Fear : Success

I turn around, one last time so he can see why I do what I do. No. But he won't realize. He's too oblivious. My smirk is back in place but it's no longer as cruel. This time it's cold. It's sad. My eyes hold a deep hurt that is easily mistaken for an indifferent look. Like I don't care. My ice blue eyes waver on sapphire but I don't care. He doesn't either. Then I turn, because it will hurt less that way. I finger the small device until I find the only one not pushed in. The red button. I pause, debating whether to wear my mask or not, but I decided not. It's too late for Kitsune to protect me. I am Naruto now. I press the button as I once again pass by his office door.

I drop the machine like it burned me and I wait. It will take a few second. I can't look back at the man who is begging and pleading for his life. I've seen many people die but this time I won't watch. I slowly raise a surprisingly steady hand to my forehead, two fingers held together and give him a salute. My hand stays in the air so he can see it as I continue to walk until I hear the loud explosion from all the Nitroglycerin and grain dust in explosive form which I placed all around the glass part of the building and the workers area. I feel a harsh gust of wind hit my back but I continue on. I don't want to see the damage.

Stage 3 Kaboom : Success

I inspect my mask to distract myself. There's a crack a little below the nose going down in a frown shaped form. I grip both parts and bend, fully cracking it. I pocket the smaller half and look down again at the part left. It will do. It still hides my face, now the people can see my mouth though. I liked having that hidden. I will fix it later. Not like anyone could identify me by just the mouth anyways.

I walk away because it's all I know. I don't want to see the mangled bodies, the blood. This doesn't feel nice. It never does unless I wear my mask. I don't want to wear it though. Not now. I want to go home and curl up in bed at the unfairness of it all. I want to try and forget the mans scream echoing in my head and forget about all the innocent lives in there. I want to forget about the oblivious wife and children who never knew their husband was part of something like this and I want to forget about the people who will have no closure because their loved one is unidentifiable among all the torn and destroyed bodies. I want to be someone else where there is no weight on their soul but I'm not. I am Naruto Uzumaki aka Kitsune and I can't go home to just ignore the world. First I have to go find those animals and make sure they're okay.

Sometimes I wish I could die to just get away from all of this. I am his only hope though. If I give up, if I can't save him then who will? It's my fault he's in that position and I will get him out, even if it kills me. So thats why I chose this path and this is why I continue to walk down it. Because once I save him, I will no longer be alone.

So I left, what was left of my mask in hand, my mind about to go into turmoil and having accomplished something that really had nothing to do with me. I got onto my motorcycle and drove away. I would never return. I didn't have the right to.

There was only one thought in my mind at this point... That fate is a sick and twisted game we are forced to play and I will win any way I can even if I must cheat to do so.

XxXxXxXx - Normal POV -

After about an hours drive Naruto arrived at the assigned place. He found the abandoned trucks next to a small cabin. He hopped off his bike before walking up the steps to the houses entrance. He rapped his knuckles on the small brown door once, then twice and finally five times before pushing it open. He glanced around the practically sparkling room. Frankly, he wouldn't be surprised if the brown walls turned white they were so clean. Maybe he would paint them some weekend, they were starting to look dull fast and he wasn't even living here.

"Sudi-Obaa-chan? You here?"

"Naru! Is that you?" Came a high pitched voice as an old lady came out from her room. He could hear the unlatching of locks before she appeared and felt guilty. He must have scared her with all the unusual people walking around with big trucks.

"It's me! How are you?"

"I'm fine. I'm fine. The question is how are you?" She was an old looking lady with dark red hair and bright green eyes. Her hair would be grey if she wasn't dying it back to it's natural color it was when she was younger. Her pale face was wrinkled from old age and her body looked feeble and breakable. She was in a knitted sweater... she probably bought it and a long brown skirt. She had pearl earring in her ears and a couple of bracelets around her wrists along with a cross handing off her neck.

The blond smiled but it was a poor attempt at his usual grin and he knew it. "I'm sorry about the noise. I had a delivery made here!"

Sudi decided to ignore the fact that the blond had ignored her first question in favor of grinning. "What's in those trucks? A new house?"

"Unfortunately, no. I had a little encounter with a man who was abusing some animals and thought I'd release them here where you could... I don't know... Use your Obaa-chan magic and nurture them back to health or whatever." She laughed before enveloping the blond in a tight hug. He hadn't come to visit in a while. She smirked at the fact that he was still shorter then her but not by much.

"You know I can't ignore an animal in distress. Are they okay?"

"Yeah. I think so. I'm going to go release them but I want you to stay in here! They could get vicious. As I said they were abused." She looked at his demanding eyes and firm face. She then noticed the whisker marks and reached her hand up to caress one cheek.

"You aren't wearing the make up! Why! It's dangerous!"

"I just got back from a mission. My mask is on my bike. Anyways. Stay here!" The blond then turned and walked out. She watched him leave before following. The kid wasn't about to order her around. He seemed to forget the saying 'respect your elders'. She should re-teach it to him. She found him heaving down one of the large doors at the back of the truck. He hopped in and she slowly walked over.

"Naru-chan! What can I do?"

"I thought I told you to stay inside... And don't call me chan!"

"Listen here young whippersnapper!" She smiled, loving to use that word. "I'll do as I please now how can I help?"

"By going inside." The grumpy blond mumbled under his breath.

"What was that!"

"I said you can help me open the cages." He smiled before walking to the door-turned-ramp that led up to the back of the truck and helped the old lady on. "Just don't open the doors all the way. I don't want either of us to be near these animals when they're let out. I'm not sure if they're tame."

"Yes sir!" Naruto laughed. Sudi smiled because she made Naruto laugh. They were happy.

XxXxXxXx

It had taken hours but finally all the animals were released. A few snapped at them but most were too scared and just fled the area. There was plenty of water around as well as berries and Sudi would be leaving food out for whoever got it first. The area she lived in was deserted, in the middle of the woods with no other houses around so they weren't a danger to the people. A few animals were standing at the edge of the woods, watching them but Naruto ignored them. They wouldn't attack. They weren't vicious.

The duo went back inside the house for tea and biscuits. They talked about everything and nothing for a while. Each knew which topics not to venture to. For Naruto he didn't speak of any of Gaara's family nor did he talk about Gaara himself as this was, in fact, Gaara's grandmother. He didn't speak of the outside world or the fact that this was no place for a lone old women. He did speak about school though. He knew she loved hearing about how he was getting an education and about how he was on his way to a better life. If only she knew.

She, on the other hand didn't speak about the boys past. She didn't ask what happened to his gang or why they were longer here. She didn't ask about what he did on his mission and why she saw his mask had been broken. She didn't mention any of the blonds nearly non-existing family and she stayed away from talk about what his plans were. She instead talked about what she did and new recipes she had created and how good they were.

Finally, Naruto brought up one of the forbidden subjects because he knew it would make her happy.

"I heard about Gaara, baa-chan. He's not ignoring you. He's not trying to stay away and not visit." He noticed the old lady visibly tense. "He goes to my new school, only he doesn't remember me. He didn't recognize me. He's lost his memory, along with Temari and Kankuro. They aren't ignoring you. They simply forgot!" Her green eyes brightened at the news.

"They aren't ignoring me!"

"Nope!"

"Well, when are they coming down?" Her smile was practically splitting her face.

"I-I... They're not. I haven't really spoken to them..."

"Why not?"

"I don't want to bring Gaara back into that life. He deserves a chance to get away even if he didn't choose it."

"I-I see." She stood up and walked back into the kitchen. Going through the fridge she began to prepare some ingredients.

"I'm sorry, Obaa-chan! I couldn't do it. I couldn't make him remember. I'll go now though. I'll go and tell him!" He couldn't stand to see her sad. He'd do anything to see her smile.

"No.. No. Naru-chan, it's okay. One is enough for me. You're enough for me. I've lived this long without them and I won't be here much longer. I've had a great life and I don't need to see them."

"Stop! Don't talk like that! Don't talk like you're about to die! You're perfectly healthy! Stop it!" Naruto was nearly in hysterics. "You're all I got left with... with.. K-K-him gone! Iie."

"Naru. He has a name!"

"Iie, iie! Stop it! Stop it!"

"Naru-chan! Stop acting like a four year old and stand strait!" She snapped, her foot stomping. It was mean but it was true.

The blond looked down, a glare on his face. Not at Sude but at himself. He was being selfish. "I'm sorry."

"I'm not leaving anytime soon so stop worrying but I am old and I have had a good life. You can't take that away from me!"

"I know. Obaa-chan... I want to go home now."

"I know you do. I'll see you soon, kay Naru-chan."

"Thanks Obaa-chan. I lo... I will see you soon." Sudi just smiled, knowing what he was about to say.

"I love you too Naru-chan! Now get going. It's late!"

"See you around!" He walked out the door, promising himself next time he would stay for longer and bring paint. She walked to the door, watching him leave. He hopped onto that little bike of his and took off through the dirt path that led to her little cabin. She heard a growling in the woods and quickly shut the door, locking it after her.

"Such a lost young man. He's too alone for his own good... Although I shouldn't be talking. I'm in the middle of no where!" She smiled before going about preparing her dinner.

XxXxXxXx

Naruto had gotten home at two in the morning. Before he could go inside he had to take off the black parts he put over the normally orange parts of his bike to hide his identity somewhat. When he finally got to his small apartment, which, by the way was up a huge flight of stairs on the fifth level and he had to climb them all because the elevator was temporarily broken... since he moved in. He stuffed his key into the lock and on the fifth try it finally clicked, the door opening. He shoved his shoes off and stumbled into the room, slamming the door behind him.

He was tired and had school the next day along with work. How fun! He grabbed a glass of water, downed it and filled another before walking to his room. He slid out of his black clothes and flopped onto the bed, exhausted. Like predicted, the second he lay down his mind was bombarded with unwelcome thoughts.

'_They're dead. I killed more then seventy people today!'_

_'He begged me to spare his life! I didn't.'_

_'Some people could have been innocent, forced to work.'_

_'It's just like the people use to say. I'm a monster. Their taunts and insults. I was just a child and I was abused and beaten by people who didn't even know me. I was judged from the moment they saw me. They never tried to get to know me, only what they expected me to be.'_

_'I know I'm not human, but am I really that much of a demon that I have turned into a monster?'_

_'I want to sleep.'_

His beautiful blue eyes closed, ignoring the world. He didn't get to escape the world though. He could pretend it wasn't there but it would never go away. He couldn't even escape in his dreams. He was haunted by screams of the people and the insults from the past.

He could never escape.

XxXxXxXx

Hey guys! Thanks for reading! The next chapter will be up soon.. I hope. It will be with the plan Chidori made in it so it'll be good. Now this story's really getting into the important stuff. Anyways, I hope you review and liked this chapter. Thanks so much for reading!

Also I thought the song went well with this chapter. You know, him lying and killing everyone disguised as Kitsune and the such! I love that song so look it up! (I was listening to this song for ages while I wrote this...)

Translations:

Obaa-chan - Grandma. It's more polite then Baa-chan which is what I think Naruto calls Tsunade in the anime.

iie (Iie which looks like Lie when in capital but not Lie)- means no.

Hai - means yes.

Thats it for now. Thanks!

Coolbluerocker


	9. Identity

So, so, sooooooo sorry for taking so long to update! I've been so busy and haven't had much inspiration with this story but I promise, no matter how long it takes to update I will NOT quit writing this story, it just takes a little more work then normal sometimes. I have some important exams coming up soon so I might not be able to update for a little while but I am alive and eventually I will finish this story. Also, most likely the next chapter is where Gaara remembers Naru and a little surprise to all :D Hope you enjoy this chapter! Also, please excuse my mistakes, I haven't gotten a chance to give this a very good grammar check and stuff cause I really wanted to get it up while I had the chance.

**Summary:**He wasn't one of them. He knew the truths of the world. He had lived this life before and somehow, he had escaped. He'd be damned if he once again got sucked into it. There was to much pain from the last time he chose that road, but, could he really let them go when they were inexperienced? They'd die before they got a chance to even shoot for the stars. And dammit, they weren't backing down now.

**Warning: **This is Sasunaru so it will be boyxboy, in later chapters at least! Don't like don't read! Also swear words and killing! Some sexual assault in this chapter!

**Pairings: **Well, definitely Sasunaru, most likely Neji/Gaara. Possible Lee/Sakura, Kiba/Hinata, Shikamaru/Temari, Ino/Choji and Itachi/Kyuubi. I'm not sure though.. Any suggestions?

**Disclaimers: **I do not own Naruto nor will I ever :(

**Important!: **I would like to sincerely, greatly thank BFHwantsblood. You've really encouraged me to try harder too write this chapter and I'm dedicating this chapter to you! Thanks soooo much! Also, love your name. BFHwantsblood is so cool! :D

Identity

XxXxXxXx

I will never forget the day my older cousin came home, bruised and bloody. His hair wasn't in it's normal, perfect strands that hung down his back and his flawless face was marred with forming bruises and a few scratches. He look a mess, something I had never even heard of him becoming before. Not even when he was a child. His right eye was nearly swollen shut and blood was leaking from his bust lip, dripping down his pale chin. His clothes were dirty and wrinkled, unlike his usual pristine style. I could see a dark patch at one of his knee's and it took me only a few seconds to realize it was blood.

I was scared. He was like a brother to me and suddenly his normal attitude and look was abandoned for this imitation of him. I couldn't imagine him every getting in a fight, not that he's a coward, it's just he normal uses his words as a weapon, not his fists. I stared for a whole minute before I realized he was wavering and about to collapse. I supported him and drug him in from the doorway to our home and up the stairs, to my room. No one saw us, luckily and I shut the door behind me. After sitting him on my bed I rushed to the bathroom for the first aid kit. When I returned he was exactly where I left him, looking lost.

I sat down beside him and began treating his wounds as best I could. I really had no clue what I was doing, having only cleaned the cuts on my younger sister Hanabi when she fell outside and they were never very deep. When I pulled up his left pant leg, blood that was building up spurted forth onto the floor, leaving a pool of crimson. I wasn't good with blood, still am not. The cut was bad. I knew that much. I did the best I could, pouring a load of dis-infectant over the wound and bandaging it up. It would be a painful cut, that was for sure, being in the bend of the knee. Once he was all patched up, I brought him to his own room. His mind was not comprehending what was going on but his body reacted to my urging and soon we found ourselves in his room. I lied him down on his bed and pulled the covers over him. He was asleep in seconds. I left but soon returned with a glass of ice cold water. He often got up in the middle of the night for water so I decided to save him the trouble.

Once I was sure he was okay, I left. Thoughts were buzzing through my head like annoying insects. Why did he come home like that? Who hurt him? Was he provoked? Did he win? Was someone else with him? Would father be mad? Where did he get the wound on his knee, it looked like a knife wound. What should I do? I'm scared.

Soon, my thoughts drifted away from the questioning thoughts. I reached my own room again and almost in a trance, began cleaning the pool of blood from the floor. There was so much, I couldn't help but wonder if it was okay to lose that much blood. Would Neji die?

Before I realized what happened, the blood was gone and I was left standing alone in my room. It was late and most definitely a good time to go to bed. I curled up beneath my warm blankets in my fuzzy pajama's, craving all the comfort I could get.

And then, I cried.

I know it's childish and weak, but I couldn't help myself. I had felt so shocked and nervous. What if I did something wrong. Then Neji would have to pay the price. What if he was alone too, but only he couldn't help himself and the liquid that kept him alive was slowly seeping from his body and he was helpless to stop it. I wanted to check on him, but the thought of finding him dead frightened me so much I was frozen in place.

I didn't fall asleep till early that morning, and it was a restless sleep, my thoughts burdening me. And as if all my worry and fear was a waste, Neji was fine the next morning, leaving the ordeal with a simple limp and a few tender bruises. I felt stupid then, for fretting over him so much. I should have known he'd be fine. How could I be so foolish as to let something so obvious slip me by. My concern was a waste of time because of my ignorance to the truth. I am ignorant.

But that night proved to me how unprepared I was to face the world. All my life I grew up as the shy, timid girl who no one really noticed. If it wasn't for Neji, I probably wouldn't even have any friends because no one would go to the trouble of befriending a girl who stuttered so much she could barely get a sentence out. My parents said it was just a phase, I think otherwise.

Sakura, Ino, Temari, and Tenten are so helpful. They don't shy away from talking about girl things just because the awkward, embarrassing girl is in the room and they often come over and we dress up nicely for a night out on the town in style. They helped me a lot.

I am also really close to Kiba and Shino. Shino is like an older brother to me as well, like Neji. He doesn't always show he cares through physical actions but he cares in his own, bug-loving way. Nobody said he was normal and I like him just how he is. Kiba is also really protective of me, if anyone so much as looks at me threateningly they are dead-men in his book.

I am treated so delicately, like I am made of porcelain and if I ever so much as drop to the floor I will break into a million pieces which can't be glued back together again because so many small pieces are lost, scattered all around the ground. They think I am innocent. I have other ideas. It's not that I am lacking in innocence, just that I don't want to be so pure. I feel like the odd one out. I've never skipped school. Never gotten in a fight. Never really yelled at someone.

I don't like that. I want to join their gang, I want to fight with them. What if they get hurt. I can do nothing to help them. I am useless and I hate it. I want to feel needed, is that so selfish. I know Hanabi needs me, and probably Neji too but what about the others. Am I just a nuisance?

Why do I feel like this? I have a great mother, even if she is really sick. Sure, sometimes I worry if she will ever get better but she's so kind and caring. She tells me my worrying is useless because you shouldn't fear the future when you're only in the present. I wonder what will happen when the future becomes the present. My father may be a bit rough and cold but he loves us all dearly, even if he doesn't show it. It's not like I have no parents at all, like Neji. I'm really grateful for what I have, yet still, I find I want more. I want to be someone else.

My one wish is not for wealth or power. I do not want the world to love me and I do not wish for ever lasting life. I wish, I could be treated like a normal teenager. I wish no one would baby me like I'm glass. I understand why they do it, but I don't agree with them. Maybe if I wasn't so shielded, I'd be strong enough to face the world.

I wish to be stronger.

XxXxXxXx

The next day was beautiful. The sun shone down on the earth below and the sky was without a single cloud. Everything seemed to brighten up, even the people. The light seemed to make people feel more active and in better moods then normal. The grass seemed that much greener and the flowers seemed that much more beautiful.

Of course, school was still going on so instead of being free to admire the beauty outside kids were stuck staring at four dull walls and listening to their teacher drone on about stuff they really didn't care about and doubted they'd ever need in real life.

A bell rang from somewhere within the school and the sounds of lockers slamming and teenagers moving around was heard. The hallways began to thin out. A young blond walked along the halls, humming some tune. His backpack was only strapped on one shoulder.

"Naruto-kun! Hey!"

"Oh! Hi, Sakura-chan!" The blond grinned.

Where'd you go so suddenly last night? You didn't even say goodbye to us!"

Naruto looked confused for a second before he understood. "Oh, my shift was over and I was late getting home."

"You're parents must have been worried, I guess. Such a defenseless young boy all alone at night!" Stars were in her eyes as she imaged the dramatic romance tale only a girl could come up with, her hands clasped together.

Two blond brows furrowed in confusion once again. "Worried, why would they be worried?" _'Never mind the fact that you don't have parents.' _His mind supplied.

"Well, you're so weak and short and stuff. No way you'd be able to defend yourself against anyone! And you look kinda girly, who knows what could happen to you!" Sky blue eyes turned azure at her suggestion. His fingers twitched from the effort it took to restrain himself from strangling the poor girl.

"I'm not weak! I'm probably the farthest thing from weak!" He yelled indigently, then, as an afterthought , "And I'm not short!"

The pink haired girl could only laugh. "Sure! Whatever you say... Naruto-_chan_!"

"Eh! Don't call me that!"

"I'd like to see you stop me!"

"Errrg! I will! HEY! Don't run away! Face it like a man!"

"I'm a women, if you hadn't noticed!"

"So! Get back here!"

"Catch me if you ca~_aaan!_"

"Haha! I'm no slow poke! Last one to class is a rotten egg!"

"Hey! How'd you get in front of me! Ehhhhhh! So fast! I don't wanna be the rotten egg!"

"Whining is not gonna get you anywhere Sakura-chan!"

"Yeah! We'll see about that, Naru-chan!"

"Naru-chan! Come on! At least Naruto-chan was better then Naru-chan!"

"Suck it up!" Giggles and laughs could be heard all the way down the hall as Sakura Haruno, from the notorious (at least around the school) Chidori gang and Naruto Uzumaki, the infamous new student shoved their way through the halls, trampling all students who got in their way without another care in the world.

"I beat you! Now you gotta buy me lunch!" Naruto yelled as he burst into the unusually quiet classroom, not that he noticed this, of course.

Sakura followed not long after, panting. "Excuse me! We didn't make that deal!"

"So! You're the rotten egg! It's your job to buy me lunch!"

"No way. I will no-"

"As interesting as this conversation is," A voice broke in, dripping in sarcasm. "The punctual, quiet students have started class. Would you like to join us?" Kakashi's only reply was two pairs of blinking eyes, wide in disbelief.

Sakura was the first to break out of the trance. "Oh god! Oh god! I'm gonna _die! _The world has come to an end! Hell has finally frozen over! Your..-you're actually on **TIME**!" One visible eye twitched on the silver haired mans face but quickly crinkled back up into a smile.

"Yes. Iruka was sick today so I had to take his class also."

A snort was heard from the back of the class, drawing their attention to the fact that there were much more students then usual crammed into the desks. "No wonder you're on time, your precious dolphin isn't in."

"Ah. My students are smart! Anyways, would our two rowdy friends please take their seats? Oh, they're already taken... No worries, you can just sit on someone's lap."

"You're just like Ero-sensei! You read his books, don't you, you creep!" Naruto screeched, finally regaining his voice.

"Ero-sensei?" Kakashi had a puzzled expression as he pulled out a little orange book. "You mean this? The ones Jiraiya-sama writes? But these are merely pieces of art."

"Art! You pervert! I'm leaving!"

"Ah-ah-ah... Naru-chan!" The blond groaned, Kakashi must have heard Sakura. "Today I'm giving out a project to torture you guys. You have two months to do this and I have already assigned teams." Kakashi smiled at their groans. "So, Naru-chan, please take a seat somewhere." Sakura and Naruto sat down on the steps leading up to some of the higher desks.

"Now, I will call out the teams and what part of English you will be working on... Mimi, Rei and Tj, you will be working on Romeo and Juliet..." Naruto blanked everything out, eyes drooping in boredom. It wasn't until he heard his own name did he tune in again. "Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura, you have the pleasure of writing on poetry."

"Yes! Were on a team with Sasuke! This is one of the best teams ever." The pink haired girl yelled as she hugged Naruto.

"Poetry! I hate poetry!" The blond whined.

"Class! You have, as I said two months to finish this. It will be 40% of you're final mark at the end of the year so do it well. It can be in any form, be creative and has to at the very least be 1000 words. I want pictures and you must work hard if you want to get a good grade! Whatever you write about must be relevant with the topic you have chosen and please, do not choose more then one or I will fail you. I guess if you don't get along and like the same things, you won't be able to get a good grade... You may talk to your partners for the rest of class to discuss it. Also, Iruka's class won't be getting out of doing this even if I'm not their teacher." WIth that, he took out his little orange book and began reading, promptly ignoring his class.

"Lets go to Sasuke!" Sakura drug the blond to their last partner and took a seat on his part of the long desk. "So, Sasuke, what do you think of the topic?" Sasuke looked up at her with sleepy black orbs before groaning.

"Seems easy! We should probably hang out after school today and try to decide what we're going to do with it."

"Kay. Can't be my house though, my dads painting."

"Hn. We'll go to my place. My mom loves the extra company." Sasuke mumbled.

Naruto hadn't said a word, just staring at the other male. "You tired, Sasuke?"

"He's always like that in the morning. Don't worry." Sakura reassured him. Sasuke looked surprised but it quickly faded. "You don't have work today, do you?"

The blond grinned. "Naw. Well, at least not until later. I'll have about three/four hours until I'll have to go."

"M'kay. Well, what poems should we do? Well, we need to brainstorm really. Maybe choose a topic and find poems we like about that." Grumbled the black haired teen, chin on hand and elbow resting on desk. His eyes were half closed and was most likely half asleep.

Sakura, staring at her phone in hand and texting replied. "Yea, sure... Who wants to doodle for the rest of class?"

"Me! I do, I do!" Naruto cheered, digging through his bag for his sketch book and ripping a few pages out, then he stole Sasuke's pencil, not that the other boy noticed and began drawing. And so went the rest of Kakashi's class, Sakura texting and doodling, Sasuke sleeping and Naruto drawing and poking Sasuke with the bud of his pencil when the other teen looked too content. The bell soon rang and they made their way to their next class, unfortunately with their snake-like teacher.

Naruto walked with Sasuke to that class, the raven teens two other friends, Ino and Shikamaru not far behind apparently arguing about Rice Cakes. Naruto ignored them in favor of standing on his tippy-toes to try and get to the same height Sasuke was. Whenever the other teen would send a glance his way, he found the picture of innocence. Hands stuffed in pockets, feet evenly walking along, eyes looking off in the distance, a strait face and a whistling of the song Teenagers by My Chemical Romance coming from the boys lips.

"What's your problem!" Sasuke demanded when once again, he found the boy looking calm and confused. He swore he could see the blond walking weird out of the corner of his eye but every time he turned it was like the guy was doing nothing. Sasuke knew though, he knew he was being screwed with.

"What ever do you mean?" Naruto questioned in a soft voice, eyes big and wide and so damn girly looking. Sasuke had to glare at the floor to stop a blush from forming. Why was he being reminded of the fairy-tales his family use to read to him when he was younger?

"Nothing." Sasuke managed to ground out, now officially brooding, of course, he'd never admit to it, especially to his brother.

"What's your problem!"

"What!"

"Hey, I'm not the one pouting like a five year old and accusing people of having a problem when they're walking along without a thought in the world and you just come in and start making irrational claims to doing something they aren't doing! Anyways, I'm not the person who's grown to an abnormal height for their age. I mean, seriously dude, are you part tree or something? Maybe a Pine tree, or a Maple. Oh! I know! You're part Oak, aren't you! I knew it! You were experimented on as a baby! You're a lab-baby!" Wide eyed, Sasuke stared at the clearly insane blond before him. The kid obviously escaped from a mental institute and was on the run. Anyways, Sasuke wondered how this conversation got turned to him.

"No comment."

"Hey! I'm not some news reporter trying to get an interview with the half human-half Oak child! I'm just making conversation!" The blond yelled, glaring but he was clearly having fun with this.

A black eyebrow rose in disbelief. "This is what you call conversation. Hn. This just proves what a Dobe you are."

"Teme!"

"Hn. Idiot."

"Teme!"

"Is that the only insult you know?"

"Asshole. Prick. Bastard. Scumbag!"

"Hey. You gotta give me a chance to answer. One at a time."

"I'm just that awesome I can do quadruple that! Bet you can't!" Naruto grinned as they walked into the creepy science lab. When one of the jars on the shelf blinked at him, the blond pressed his shoulder against the other's. "I hate this place."

"What a hurtful and terrible thing to say! I _love _this room. It has all my prized possessions. Detention with me at lunch, Naruto." Turning on his heels the blond found the snake like man grinning down at him, his eyes gleaming in victory. Sighing in response, he decided ignoring the man would be his best option. He turned and took his seat, preparing himself for an incredibly boring and long lecture on things he didn't really want to know about - like how a certain snake can eat a man alive.

XxXxXxXx

A women rushed through the white halls of the school. Her short black hair was a mess in her rush and her eyes were even darker then her hair. She wore a short black dress that stopped at her knee's. The school bell was about to ring and she didn't want to get caught up in the mass of students. Finally, she reached the main office's door. Entering, she then walked to the one labeled 'Principle' and knocked. Her knock was responded with a 'come in' and the women entered.

"Ah, Shizune, what brings you here. I'm not drinking!" Tsunade grinned.

"I see that, but I have some information you might like to hear." Shizune answered. Tsunade's forehead crinkled in confusion.

"Well, spit it out."

Shizune clenched her hands, nervous. "Not that long ago, someone came into the nurses office. He had received a pretty painful smack to his cheek and I began to clean it up. It was a boy and as I cleaned it I noticed he was wearing... makeup. Underneath, I caught a glance of.. Well.. of.. scars. His name is Naruto Uzumaki and the scars -there were three."

Tsunade looked up with wide brown eyes, back now rigid and a look of comprehension crossing her face. "Just like whiskers."

XxXxXxXx

School passed by quickly. At lunch Sasuke chilled with all his friends while Naruto attended detention. Orochimaru was mean, making him write out sentences and forbidding him from eating or drinking as punishment. He kept him late as well so he might get detention from another teacher. Luckily, Naruto did not. The blond met Sasuke at the gates to the school, but there was no pink haired girl.

"Where's Sakura?"

"She's not coming. She apparently had an emergency shopping trip with Ino and Hinata. She said if she can she'll meet up with us later. Lets go." Sasuke turned with that and took off down the path, not looking back to make sure the shorter male was following. He didn't really care. If the guy was coming he'd just have to keep up.

"So, any idea's?"

"No."

"You like any poems in particular?"

"No."

"Do you like the color blue?"

"No."

"Do you eat healthily?"

"No."

"Do you not have a fetish for Orochimaru-sensie?"

"Yes."

"Unnn! You're so boring! I can't even trick you into being fun!"

"Hn."

"This is going to be a long walk! And I'm starting to believe you only know one worded answers."

"Hn."

"Nyaaaaaaaah!"

XxXxXxXx

"Hey mom, dad, aniki. I'm home! And we have company!" The sound of dishes falling, then curses came from what Naruto assumed was the kitchen. He couldn't be too sure as the house was not in fact a house. It was a mansion. A palace. A castle. Too huge to house only four people. They had a driveway up to the house that was ten minutes long! Ten whole minutes!

"Company! A girlfriend, maybe?" Came his mother's frantic and too happy sounding reply as she came rushing out. "Oh. A boy. Sasuke, you never told me you swung that way."

The raven haired teen blushed at his mothers suggestive tone, finding it way too perverted to come from such a sweet, pure looking lady. "No, mom. He's my partner for our English project."

"You sure Sasuke." Itachi's voice came from the top of the spiral stairs. "He's pretty cute." This time Naruto blushed.

"Yes, aniki. I'm sure. We're working on this with Sakura, too. She just couldn't make it today." Sasuke sighed at his brothers lewd ways. His family was screwed up, by tonight Naruto would be mentally scarred, he was sure of it. Thank God his father hadn't appeared yet. The guy would probably scare the shit out of the blond.

"Well, any friend of Sasuke's is welcome in our home. How are you..."

"Naruto." The blond grinned. "Uzumaki Naruto."

"Nice to meet you Naruto-kun!"

"Were going to go up to my room, mom. I'll see you in a little bit." Grabbing the blond's sleeve, he began tugging the boy up the stairs, wanting nothing more then to get away from his over-baring family. He could hear them whispering to each other in the background, snickering. He would kill them later, or at least Itachi. He couldn't very well kill his own mother, but Itachi, well, he was annoying enough to contemplate the idea.

"Wow! This is such a cool house, and your room is awesome!" Sasuke's room was very plain but had a royal feel to it. The walls were a deep blue color and the rug was black. There was a dresser in the right corner of the room, across from it in the opposite corner was his bed with royal blue sheets lined in gold. There was a black dresser against the same wall as the dresser and two doors across from them. In the bottom right corner of the room was a large, high-tech looking stereo and a rack was next to it filled to the very top with Cd's. A flat screen Tv was built into the wall opposite the bed and in front of the Tv were a few Beany-bags and an X-box.

"Thanks." Sasuke sat down on the blue beany-bag chair, dropping his bag on the floor next to him. Slightly nervously, the blond took the black bag next to him, repeating his action of dropping his bag.

"So, how should we start?"

"Let look through our English books. Maybe there are some good poems there."

"Kay." An awkward silence reigned throughout the room. Neither were comfortable and didn't know how to act. Should they seem like they were old friends and joke around or get right to business with their project? The only sound was the flicking of paper and pens scribbling on paper.

"I like the poem Dulce et Decorum Est by Wilfred Owen." Naruto piped up, no longer able to stand the quiet.

Black eyes shot up at him for a second before returning to the book. After another moment of silence, Naruto was just about ready to give up and return to reading. He didn't expect a response when Sasuke spoke. "I like The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost."

"Oh! I know that one off by heart. Had to learn it for my last school... or was it the one before it? Maybe it was the one I went to in September..." A finger thumped against his chin as Naruto thought.

"How many schools have you _been _to!"

The blue eyed boy laughed. "You don't wanna know!" And for a second, Sasuke believed him.

"Well. What's similar about these two poems?" The raven teen asked. If they liked the poems how would they include them in their project without it seeming like a load of random shit thrown together.

"Nothing... But maybe, we can make that work!"

Blue orbs met black pits as the two stared each other down. Grins, a little too devious began to make it's way on the pale teens face. The ironic part, his friend mirrored this look exactly. Kakashi was about to be beaten and he wouldn't even realize it.

XxXxXxXx

"Are you sure you have to go home, Naru-chan?" The blond winced at the name but smiled none the less. He had spent three hours at Sasuke's house, one of which was spent showing his mother how to make Hot Chocolate without burning the milk. Then, she wanted him to show her how to make Rice Crispy Treats without burning the marshmallow. The trick was to keep turning the marshmallow so it didn't get the chance to burn. She had been very talkative and went from Naruto-kun to Naru-chan. She said he was too cute to be called Kun. Itachi, Sasuke's brother was pretty cool too.

"Now, mother. Be nice, I'm sure a young man like Naruto here would like to be called by -kun. You might embarrass him, isn't that right, Naru-chan." And evil. He was also very, very evil. The worst part, his wickedness was hiden by his round-about way of talking. Sometimes you couldn't even realize he was teasing you he said it so smoothly.

"You're right, Itachi-chan! I'm so sorry Naru-kun!" But where else could he have gotten his devilish ways but from his parents, who had mastered the art.

Naruto just smiled. The family was not normal, so the best he could do was smile and act like everything was fine. "It's alright, really. I'll probably see you again next time we need to work on this thing." Sakura had never shown up and Sasuke had received a text about an emergency meeting at the pink girls house.

"See you later, Sasuke!"

"Hn. By... Naru-chan." The door was then slammed just as Naruto turned to rabidly attack the raven. Lucky bastard, he'd be dead right now, or foaming at the mouth had Naruto gotten to him. With a heavy sign, the blond made his way back to school. He had left his bike there as he didn't want to drag it all the way to Sasuke's but now he had to go all the way back to school and then to work.

"So troublesome." If only he knew then, that he sounded like a certain lazy teen who would soon become a great friend of his. Maybe he could have prevented it, to save himself the trouble of future situations he'd be put in and maybe then, this story would not have existed, but nor would the tragedy that came with it.

XxXxXxXx

"Well, why were we all called out here so suddenly!" Sasuke demanded.

"Yea!" Kiba barked out. "I have extra chores for not being able to finish the ones tonight!" Hinata, Ino and Sakura stood in the middle of the little circle of friends. They had been the ones to organize this whole thing and people weren't happy.

Ino grinned, a devious hint to it as she raised a finger. "We got some information you might be interested in. About a gang called Sound Nine. Apparently, some of their weak lackey's hang out around the alley between Sand and Leaf Street. Sound Nine's a big group, strong but these guys are just for the numbers. They have a lot of men to make them seem stronger and to hold the fort, in a way. The main guys of Sound Nine are strong, dangerous but these are the guys they use to keep people off their territory. If someone comes, they'll be outnumbered and most likely intimidated. If their member's die, then they'll know to send the real guys out before getting more weaklings to take their place. All they're there for it to act like targets. If they die, then a worthy opponent is in the area, if not, then they don't have to bother with that area."

"And..." Neji drawled. There was obviously more to this.

This time Sakura was the one smirking. "And, it means this is the perfect place to send out dear Hinata. They're weak. With all of us, we'd easily be able to take them on if worst comes to worst and Kitsune doesn't come but they're still a threat to attract Kitsune. Then once he gets rid of them all we attack him."

"This couldn't be said over phone?" Choji asked, munching on a chip.

"Nope, 'cause they are only in this alley one every two weeks and tonight is the night."

"Tonight!" Temari repeated, eyes wide. "But were not prepared."

"And what, exactly, dear Temari, do you think we've been doing all day? Honestly, you thought we were shopping!" Ino said, her lips twitching. She loved this feel of power, like she knew something the others didn't. which she did.

"So. What have you prepared?" Shino mumbled from his place next to Shikamaru who was half asleep.

"Well." Sakura began. "We've gotten the perfect outfit for Hinata, bought some new pocket knifes and got all this information for you. What else do you want?"

"A hot chocolate would be nice." Kiba grinned up to them, pearly teeth stretched wide in a cheeky grin. Ino kicked him in the knee.

"We ain't your servants! Get your own hot chocolate!"

"Now. Are we gonna do this or not. We'll have to wait another two weeks before we can do it again if we don't go forward with it tonight!"

XxXxXxXx

With a sigh of frustration, Naruto went to clean up the mess of a child who didn't have any table-manners. He had been working non-stop. Jiraiya, the sleazy bastard had sent some workers home because he thought it was going to be a slow night. Yeah, right. The asshole just wanted to save some money. Naruto was suppose to be off over two hours ago! Naruto would have gone to Jiraiya's office to bitch his ass off if the man hadn't disappeared. The perv was probably at a strip club or something doing 'research'. Naruto could honestly say he felt sorry for any women who came in contact with the stalker.

"Hey! Naru!" One of the other workers, a girl in collage, called to him. He smiled.

"Yeah, Kisa?"

She tossed him delivery bag with a devious grin and slapped a hat over his blond head. "Hiro isn't back yet and you have that motorcycle of yours, right? Go deliver this to 21 Kohala Drive. It's near the mall. Kota and Jeria have the pizza's and are boxing 'em right now. Go back and grab them. Also, you have thirty minutes to get there or it's coming out of your pay."

"What! I'm not a delivery boy! I'm a waiter!" The blond cried.

"Well, tonight you're not. It's only one stop, anyways. Get going now, you only have twenty-nine minutes left." Grumbling, Naruto walked to the kitchens. When he got there, Kota and Jeria had their backs to him and were discussing something as they worked. Naruto normally wasn't much of an eavesdropper but what they were saying caught his attention.

"-and they said Kitsune would save them! Can you believe that, Kitsune! That guy disappeared years ago. And they were gonna use that blue-haired girl as bait! If they actually think he'll come save their sorry ass' they're sadly mistaken. Even if he did return, no way would he care about a bunch of loser high school kids."

"Really! But maybe he did return, I mean, where would they get such a crazy idea if it wasn't true, ya'know?"

"Nah. They are just some star-struck kids looking for attention. I also heard them say they're in a gang themselves. Something like Chiroda, or Chiroda... Something like that. The idiots, they're gonna get themselves killed. Hey? You seen the tomatoes? We out?"

"They're over here, man." Jeria turned around and paused when he saw the shocked blond standing before him, eyes wide and face pale. "Oh, hey Naru. The pizza's are over on the counter. Make sure they stay hot."

Naruto turned to grab them, shoulders tense. He glanced at the two men. "Hey, did you happen to hear where those kids went?" He asked, trying to sound nonchalant.

"Oh, you overheard that. No, they didn't say although I'm sure they'll attack sound if they're looking for a weak gang. Sound 9's the only team 'round here that aren't overly strong. They're fools, don't you get involved in that, you hear me, Naru."

"Gotcha. I'll see you guys later." Hurriedly, Naru left the kitchen and grabbed his school bag from the employ's room. He then headed for the door, pizza in hand but no intention of delivering it, if what Kota said was true. Those idiots were expecting Kitsune to rescue them.

Kota was right, a bunch of idiots. He had no clue where Sound hung out.

XxXxXxXx

Hinata giggled nervously. Ino and Sakura had done up her hair and dressed her in very... exposing clothes. Neji would be furious if he saw her which, thankfully hadn't happened yet. She was in a very, very short denim miniskirt with long, thigh high stockings. A thin, see-through tank-top under a dark purple belly top that had a very large v-neck so a bit of her pink bra could be seen hung off her Her lips were glossed over and her eye were outlined in black. Ino and Sakura themselves had dressed up but spent extra time in making Hinata look especially.. well... hot.

The three girls were meeting the others a couple blocks from where the Sound group were apparently hanging out. Hinata would go alone to the ally and act lost. Sound would find her by accident and obviously not let her leave with the way she looked. The others would follow her a few minutes later and hide in the shadows until Kitsune he took care of the Sound lackeys, they would attack him.

"Hey girls!" Kiba greeted, drooling.

"Eww!" Ino shrieked. "You _are _a dog!"

"Ehh?" As Kiba wiped at his chin Sasuke stepped forward.

"Don't you think that's a bit, much?" One delicate black brow rose on his pale face.

Sakura grinned, an arm going around the other girls shoulders. "No, it's barely enough, really. We don't want them to just ignore her! She needs to be in danger!"

"No." Neji glared. "She is **not **going out to them in that!"

"She'll be fine." Shikamaru mumbled. "We won't let anything happen to her. You should probably get going, Hinata. We'll be close behind."

The blue-haired girl nervously nodded. "O-okay." She smiled. "S-see you s-soon." With that, she turned and walked away.

"It'll be fine." Temari repeated Shikamaru's words, as if to reassure everyone. It was almost as if the more she said it, the truer it would be. No one watched as Hinata disappeared.

"Course."

XxXxXxXx

To say Hinata was nervous was an understatement. She had been dressed up in heels and as she walked, she wobbled. Ino had insisted, saying if she looked taller she would also look older. As the wind blew her skirt up, she had to constantly smooth it down with a blush on her face and when the belly top fell down a bit too much, she had to try and fix it. It didn't take too long to reach the alley way, despite this.

This was the badder part of town where a girl should never really be alone unless she could defend herself in a fight. It was where everything went down. Police were reluctant to enter here and murders were so common they were often ignored. If someone claimed to being raped, it was their own fault for hanging around here. Hinata had never been here before, she never even drove past here.

She coughed as she passed a homeless man smoking. He blew the white smoke at her as she walked by and she held her breath, unwilling to breath the bad air in. Some men leered at her and with their stares she felt like they were undressing her with their eyes. She paused just at the edge of the alleyway. She could hear from inside the laughter of men and the crashing of trash-cans being kicked over. With a huge amount of bravery and a small amount of stupidity, she entered, head high and determined.

It didn't take long to reach where the noise was coming from. The men were crowded around in a circle, playing cards. They were all rather dirty looking and had hard, worn faces. None of them were any younger then twenty-five and their clothes looked like they hadn't been washed in months. There was trash piled high on either side and the alley led to a cross road, of sorts. They were in the centre where four different alleyways met up.

With a deep breath, Hinata approached. "E-excuse me." She stuttered. All the men looked at her, most of them glaring. "I-I'm a b-b-bit lost. Do y-you think you c-could help m-me?"

One man stood up. He was quite tall with short black hair. He hadn't shaved in weeks, by the looks of it and when he grinned down at her, his teeth were a sickly yellow. "Of course we can, little girl, but we don't do nothing for free, you know. We want payment."

Hinata took a step back as he took one forward. "I-I don't-"

"It's okay." He looked horribly sincere, which put her on edge. The innocence was obviously faked and his smile had a darker meaning to it. "We don't need your money. Your body will do just fine." In one quick movement, he latched on to her wrist and yanked her flush against his body. She nearly gaged at the disgusting stench. He didn't just look dirty, he smelled it too.

"L-let me go!" She cried and threw her opposite fist at him but it was a weak attack and did no damage as it slammed against his chest. He grabbed that one with his other hand.

"Don't struggle. You'll only make this harder." He brought the two wrists together before capturing both in one hand, his other free to roam. It traveled down her face, grazing against her cheek before going even lower, to her right breast. With a vicious grin, he squeezed.

"NO!" Hinata cried, wiggling about. He hadn't expected her to lash out like she did. With her right foot she stomped on his left, the heel of her shoe digging in to his bone while the other foot kicked him in the shin as hard as she could. The attack wasn't strong but she hit where it hurt. When he released her in shock, she ran. Kitsune wasn't showing up, apparently.

She didn't get far before a shot rang out close to her head. "STOP!" The man yelled. "Or I'll shoot and this time I won't miss!" She froze, every instinct telling her to run but not willing to take the chance of death.

"Hey, boss!" Came a loud shout. "Look'it what we found." A few guys appeared from the shadows, guns out and pointed at her friends. The guys must have slipped past her and the first man when he was assaulting her.

"Hinata!" Neji cried out. "Are you okay?" Hinata nodded.

"I see." The first man drawled out as he strolled over, his gun hanging limply in his hand. "They were trying to trick us."

"No!" Tenten shouted. "We were-" She was cut off when a nearby member backhanded her right across the face. Sasuke lunged at the man, his knife having been taken away but he was a good fighter. Sasuke wouldn't let someone hurt his friend like that, not as leader. Before Sasuke could reach him, he was restrained by two other men. They forced his arms behind his back and pushed him against the alley wall, the rough cement scarping his cheek.

"Let him go!" Kiba growled, attacking one of the men holding Sasuke before he too was grabbed.

"Leave them alone!" Sakura cried out, green eyes flaring in anger.

"Why should we?" The leader asked. "This is your own fault, you never should have tried to attack us so now you will all die, staring with her." The man turned to Hinata, an evil glint in his eyes. She was isolated, alone. He raised his gun to her. "What a shame, you have such a pretty face."

Hinata closed her eyes, tears breaking through. She was weak, she couldn't do anything right. Maybe Kitsune didn't care. Maybe this was a mistake. Too young. They were all too young. To young to be in a gang, too young to be plotting like this, too young to be fighting, too young to be here. Too young to die.

She should have seen this coming. Should have corrected their idiotic ways, but, she just wanted to be of some use. She wanted to help. She wanted to be apart of their gang, not just their weak friend who they must protect. She wants to protect them but she screwed up, so badly. They are all going to die, and it'll be her fault.

Her long hair billows in the wind and her skirt rides up her thigh a bit too far, but she doesn't move to fix it. She's staring down the barrel of a gun, the gun that's going to kill her right now. Her friends are not far behind her, surrounded by men who will kill them after they kill her. She wants to do something. She wants to save them, even if she dies. It doesn't matter if she lives or not, as long as they get away, but what can she do? She's frail, delicate. She can't make a difference. All she's good for is getting in the way. And to put the icing on the cake, she's going to die a slut.

_'I don't want to die.' _

_'We need help.'_

_'Why hasn't he come?'_

_'Where is he?'_

_'He's suppose to save us. He's suppose to be here!'_

_'Why did he fail us.'_

_'Why would he let us die?'_

_'Why did he not come through for us. Why isn't he here?'_

The boss grinned, his hand steadying and without hesitation, his finger squeezed the trigger, the bang loud and sharp - unmistakable. The scream that followed was even sharper and full of pain - full of desperation.

"KITSUNE!"

XxXxXxXx (I hope you are grateful! I was going to stop there but after leaving it for so long, I guessed you deserved more!)

It had taken a few calls, a couple of ignoring calls he received from angry bosses and a lot of frantic driving, not to mention payment for the information he got, but now he knew where they were. The cost of the information was high and reckless, really, but he finally found out where Sound 9 hung out. Only, it was on the other side of town.

Naruto cursed.

He was flying down the freeway at a speed that was most definitely illegal and he wasn't even wearing a helmet, having left it at work. He was dressed in all black and his mask was on. He hadn't yet gotten rid of the orange on his bike but there was no time. He revved the engine, swerving in between the cars - most of which were honking at him. A police car might have also started following him but he lost the car a while back. FInally, he saw his exit. He cut across all the cars to get to it and flew off the motor way.

It didn't take long to find the alleyway. He practically threw the bike to the ground and jumped off before it had even stopped. He rushed into the small alley, yanking his hood which had fallen off on the drive over back up to cover his blond locks. He could hear people yelling, telling someone to 'not shoot'. As he got closer, he could make out a man point a gun at... Hinata! His pace increased and he leapt up onto a trash can. Using that to propel off, he launched himself over to the girl.

A shot went off - he hadn't reached her yet.

She screamed his name.

So close.

Nearly there.

Too late.

XxXxXxXx

Hinata closes her eyes as the gun shot and squeezes them together, panic flooding through her veins. She was going to die. She doesn't want to die. She hears footsteps, somehow, she hears them. They are loud and resound throughout the alley, bouncing against the walls. Then there's something in front of her. She hears the bullet make contact with skin - not her skin.

She opens her pale eyes and she cries. Standing before her is a masked face. Through the eye holes in the mask two blue orbs stare her down. The bottom half of the mask is gone and blond tuffs of hair peak out from under a black hood. A mouth opens - it coughs. Blood spurts out. It sprays against her face as the head tilts down. The intense eyes break contact with hers. Hands reach up to her shoulders - he's bracing himself. He needs support.

Another shot rings out.

His body jerks. He stumbles - nearly falls. He puts more weight on her shoulders, forces his legs to hold himself up. Blood drips down his chin. The head looks up again. The lips smile slightly - a weak smile. The eyes are azure - pain filled. A hand reaches down, pulls something silver out. All she can hear is his ragged breathing, sometimes coming out in slight gurgles as he chokes on blood. Nothing else. All she can see is his hidden face - before hers. He raises a trembling arm and shoots one bullet into the sky. His other arm remains on her shoulder - he'd fall without it. His blood is trickling down her cheek. Her pale cheek contrasting the crimson. Her tears mix with the blood, diluting it.

She's so scared.

He came.

He turns his body slightly, the hand holding the gun facing the ground. He glares at the leader who laughs. Blood is starting to come through on the black jacket - just slightly. His face is pale, much, much too white to be healthy. The blood trailing down from his redder then normal lips is disgusting. He ignores the yells from Chidori. The leader is all he sees.

"If you don't leave." He chokes out. "I'll be forced to kill you." His voice is so quiet, but travels so far. So soft but so dangerous. The leader laughs.

"You can't be older then fifteen. You think you can kill me!" His men laugh with him. They should never doubt their enemies skill without knowing who said enemy is.

The eyes turn icy, so cold it makes Hinata shiver. "I mean it." Kitsune hisses. "I have no qualms about killing you, except for having these people witness it but that can be ignored if you refuse to leave. Say you will leave and I won't kill you." The leader doesn't realize how series the boy is.

"Shut up, boy! I'll kill all of you and this is our territory, right boys. We ain't leaving!" The leader smirks, raising his gun to shoot again.

Kitsune is faster. His gun has already been shot before the man can even fully raise his. The bullet hits the man right between the eyes. He drops dead. Kitsune hears a man near the other gang members move. Kitsune turns and places his arm over Hinata's shoulder, almost as if he's hugging her. He shoots again. It hits the man in the heart. He falls too. Hinata shakes. Blue eyes look regretful. He levels his gun with another mans head. He shoots. Another one dies. He aims again, but pauses at the horrified expressions on the teens faces.

"Leave, or you will all die. If you value your lives, go!" The men don't waste a second as they scramble to leave. The men holding Sasuke and Kiba release them before racing away with their teammates. Kitsune slumps forward slightly, one hand grasping her shoulder, the other one around her back partly. He breaths against her neck, making her shudder before pushing himself away. He tips, staggering backwards until he hits the rough wall. His hands grasp at the wall, fingers digging into the cracks, trying not to fall to the ground. His legs begin to give, his knees bending. He coughs and blood comes forth. He wipes his chin with the back of his gloved hand, but only smears the blood more.

Nervously, Hinata steps forward. "M-mr. Kitsune-s-san? A-are you a-alright?" And she's never felt so stupid, it's obvious he's not alright, he had two bullets in him and he's hacking up blood. His eyes begin to focus in on her just as her friends reach them. Neji pulls his younger cousin into a tight hug and the others rub her back. She realizes she's still crying.

Kitsune seems to grasp on to the situation and suddenly stands up - and almost falls back down again. His legs are shaking, he feels dizzy. He's losing too much blood, way too much blood. His chest and stomach hurt so bad. He needs help, and fast. Everyone's watching him, he turns away from them. He should probably tell them off, or tell them he's fine but his mind's not working right. He knows he needs to get to his bike and he stumbles along the pavement like a drunk, tripping over non-exhistant objects. He doesn't fall.

"Kitsune!" Someone yells. Shikamaru. There's a hand on his upper arm. He jerks it out of Gaara's grasp and nearly falls. They're closing in on him, getting closer. They're speaking but it's all one jumbled mess. They all sound the same, speak the same words. He's being closed in. They're caging him.

He's threatened now. He brings his gun up to someone's head. Gaara's. The barrel is pressed in the middle of his forehead. Green eyes, beautiful green eyes are staring him down. His blue eyes widen when he realizes what he's doing and he almost drops the gun in shock. Almost. He shoves it in his waistband and turns away.

"Go 'way." He mumbles and begins to totter away again.

"But you're hurt!" Kankuro yells, following. Kitsune shoots to the sky.

"You fucking follow me you'll get a bullet to the brain." He growls out.

"Don't be irrational." Shino says quietly.

Lee nods vigerously. "YES! YOU, my friend, NEED HELP!"

"Fine. 'M fine." He continues to walk away from them, hunched over and one hand wrapped around his torso.

"You're not!" Temari cries out. She's ignored. They don't follow him when he disappears from the alley way. Hinata's tears finally stop and Sakura rubs the blood from the others face with her sleeve. Neji places his jacket on the blue haired girl and together, they leave the alleyway.

Broken. Scared. Spooked. Scarred. Angry. Hateful. Tearful.

Together.

Hinata looks to the sky, a warm feeling deep inside her that helps fight away the bitter cold. They made a mistake. A horrible error, but people learn from fault. They won't make the same mistake again. They know better now. They know they are not prepared. They realized this together.

With hands patting her back, reassuring words in her ears, smiled sent to her and arms around her shoulders, she feels at home. She's not alone right now. They've been crushed and shattered together, as one. They fell and burned and exploded, but she got something out of this.

_'Kitsune.'_ She whispers inside her head. _'I know who you are.'_

XxXxXxXx

Thanks for reading and please review! :D hope you enjoyed this chapter and I will do my best to get the next one up soon!

Coolbluerocker


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